Damnatio Memoriae
by Kennedy Leigh Morgan
Summary: Regina is given a blessing that will allow her a second chance at a new life. However, banishing someone's history comes with unexpected consequences and now it's up to Emma and Henry to find a way to bring her back, preferably before Cora overcomes her sleeping curse or anything else goes wrong in town. When has anything ever been that simple? Swan Queen eventually.
1. Forget and Forgive

**Damnatio Memoriae**

**Disclaimer:** If you recognize it I don't own it. This follows canon up to _In the Name of the Brother_, after that I'm playing fast and loose with the "facts." P.S. Is it just me or are they outrageously inconsistent with who gets called what on the show? Bear with me, I'll figure it out eventually.

* * *

**Forget and Forgive**

Trees grasped at Snow White, branches and roots sprang to vile purpose, catching at her clothes, at her skin. No sooner had she dodged one limb than another swooped into her path. Just a few more yards and she'd be free of the garden; safe on City Hall's stone courtyard. One more step –something tightened around her ankle and the world turned over. The spindle dropped from her fingers as she instinctively spread her hands to catch her fall.

At the top of the stairs Cora and Regina ceased their spell and turned. Snow, now bound to the ground by the roots of Regina's apple tree, could only move her head and watch as mother and daughter descended the steps and strode toward her. She'd failed.

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Cora taunted. With a wave of her hand the roots pinning Snow plowed themselves up, hauling their captive to face the two witches. Snow trained a glare at Cora and Regina, hoping she'd hear the spindle land somewhere else. No such luck but she saw Regina's eyes track down, flicker with recognition and then snap up to meet her own.

"And what, I wonder, did you possibly think you were going to do once you got to us? Surely you didn't expect to shoot us?" Cora continued, as the quiver strapped across Snow's chest was ripped off and tossed away with her bow tucked uselessly inside.

Cora took another measured step toward her. The crisp whisper of her slacks echoed loudly in Snow's ears as the witch reached a gloved hand to her heart for the second time. But then she paused.

"Regina darling, perhaps you should do the honors? You've waited a long time for this."

Cora's gaze never Snow's, but the younger woman could see Regina in her peripheral. Could see the deposed Queen bend, then straighten, her face set in a stoic expression.

"You're right Mother, I've waited a very long time," Regina agreed, her attention focused solely on her mother. "Here, take this."

Cora turned toward her daughter with her hand still outstretched and Snow White gasped as Regina handed her mother the spindle; point first. The sharp tip pierced Cora's palm through her leather glove and shock spilled across her face.

"Regi…nahhh." The name slipped from her lips like a dying sigh as Cora collapsed to the grass.

The roots holding Snow aloft released like rubber bands, plunging back into the earth as she landed roughly on her feet.

"Where is Henry?" Regina demanded, chucking the spindle away.

"With Emma," Snow replied, because she was still shocked that Regina had saved her life. Again. "He went with her to New York."

Regina nodded, dropped to her mother's side, and they both disappeared in a cloud of violet smoke.

* * *

The two rematerialized in the dark mausoleum Regina had erected for her father. It was appropriate, she supposed as she conjured a second tomb next to the first. Her father had loved her mother desperately once. Desperately enough that he couldn't summon the courage to confront her, even after all the love had been banished from her heart. Now he lay dead at his adored daughter's hands and she'd cursed with her mother with eternal sleep.

Cora could not be killed until Regina found her heart, and she had every intention of doing exactly that. Regina had hoped that somewhere in her heart of hearts, that Cora would seek the same redemption that she herself was. She had hoped Cora loved her as much as she loved Henry. But her time spent with her mother only proved that Cora's only love was power –magical power, social power, and power over her daughter. It was clear to Regina that her mother would stop at nothing to gain all of those powers, including using Henry against Snow and Charming and against Regina herself. As long as Cora was alive Henry would not be safe.

It was also clear that Snow and Charming would underestimate Cora. Though their plan had been far cannier than Regina liked to give them credit for, she knew they would never catch Cora in a moment of weakness. So Regina had bided her time until she could do it herself. There was no doubt in her mind that even the enchanted sleep brought on by the cursed spindle would fail to subdue her mother but it gave her the time she needed to find a more permanent solution.

Regina had no words of apology for the woman this time. Love was weakness, and it was one in her that she would not allow her mother to exploit ever again. She sealed the granite coffin with magic.

It was unlikely that any true love would come along to wake Cora but Regina had learned the hard way that curses were made to be broken. She was going to make it as difficult as possible to do so without wasting the last of her magic reserves. Without her mother's presence, fresh from their land as she was, Regina feared that her grip on power would dwindle again. Without a source to draw from, magic was difficult to harness in this land. And she'd need a new source if she was going to find Cora's heart and crush it.

Ruling out the fairies on principle and Rumplestiltskin because she'd finally, _finally_, learned that his price was far too high, she was left with only one other possibility. The next order of business would be to find her son and Emma Swan.

* * *

The door to the Mills' Mausoleum creaked open and the Blue Fairy flung her arm forward, releasing dust toward Regina head on. The former queen reached up to deflect the magic and was frozen in her defensive stance.

"You used up your second and third chance Regina," James stated as he stepped out from behind the crypt. "Now you'll be brought to justice for the evil you've wrought on everyone in this town."

Frozen as she was Regina could only pour every ounce of her considerable frustration and yes, hatred for them at that moment into a glare. Her only pleasure was Charming's obvious discomfort and Blue's refusal to meet her gaze.

* * *

The bar at Granny's was a far cry from their council chambers in the summer palace, but it was the best place for them all to meet since Snow's apartment had been decimated when Cora and Regina tore through the town. James' captains, once headed by Lancelot, were absent. As was Gepetto, who had confessed his betrayal and resigned from their court in shame –though they hadn't asked it of him. Snow, Charming, Grumpy, Archie and the Blue Fairy sat at the bar, while Red and her ever busy Granny washed and dried dishes behind the counter.

"We should have killed her when we had the chance," James said.

"Then I'd say it's about time we corrected that mistake don't you." Grumpy, of course, could be counted upon to push for the most efficient, and preferably most violent, solution. "Three strikes, she's out."

Snow was about to protest but Ruby beat her to it.

"Regina didn't kill any of us when she had the chance. And without her we never would have gotten rid of Cora."

"Without her apple tree Snow might have succeeded on her own. And Regina nearly destroyed half the town!"

"We got lucky," Charming agreed with the ill-tempered dwarf.

"She's worked for months to change for Henry," Archie spoke up. "And given her actions at the end of the battle, I don't believe she wanted her mother to succeed with her coup."

"That doesn't change the destruction she caused. Every bed in the hospital is full," Grumpy said, thinking of Nova who had been inside the convent when Regina had lit it up with a well-placed fireball. "We're lucky more people weren't hurt, or worse!"

"Grumpy's right and it doesn't change the fact that she cursed us all here to begin with so that she could harm us."

"And she saved my life instead," Snow interjected. "If it wasn't for her Cora would have killed me and our plan would have failed entirely."

"That's one good deed after a long list of evil ones," Charming pointed out. Though a part of him, the part that had seen Regina trying so hard to change while Snow and Emma had been in the Enchanted Forest and the part of him that knew rewarding her efforts with a death sentence was _wrong_ the rest of him remembered that she had been shown mercy before, and it had nearly cost him everything he held dear.

"She saved my life; we will not execute her for that," Snow vowed.

"Then take your pick of the crimes we _can_ execute her for."

It was not difficult to see where Emma Swan got her double dose of stubborn from.

"We could always banish her," Granny finally spoke up, just to break the tension between Snow White and her husband.

"No," Charming said. "Regina has magic here. We can't subject the people in this world to that kind of power, especially not if we're going to keep them out of Storybrooke."

"Well, we can't just let her go free because we don't know what to do with her," Grumpy insisted.

"But we can show her the same mercy she showed to us," Ruby spoke up once more. Everyone looked at her expectantly so she continued, "Rather than kill us all she brought us here to new lives for twenty-eight years. They weren't perfect but they weren't awful either. Maybe Regina deserves nothing more or less than a lifetime without her monster."

"How? None of us has the power to curse her into a new existence and who knows when Rumplestiltskin will return and if he'll make a deal for it when he does?"

"There is another way," the Blue Fairy replied though Snow had meant the question to be rhetorical. "We could use a blessing."

"A _blessing_?"

"_Damnatio Memoriae_," The fairy nodded. "Its affects are very similar to those of the curse but on a much smaller scale. It's called a blessing for those who wish to find absolution in forgetting."

"Could we cast this spell on her and banish her?" Granny asked as she worried a glass with a towel.

"I can't strip her of her powers. Even without her memory Regina, and those around her, will be safer in Storybrooke where we can contain them."

"So she won't be able to leave Storybrooke? Can a blessing be broken?"

"All spells can, of course, be broken but given Regina's history it's unlikely that anyone would do the breaking for her."

"So she'd be just like we were? She'd believe she's always been in this land without magic?"

"She'd have memories of growing up in this land yes, as well as a compelling instinct to stay put in Storybrooke. We'd have to be careful not to break that façade."

"We have to be careful anyway," Charming pointed out, "Now that outsiders can come to Storybrooke at any time."

"There is one other caveat: a blessing must be wished for. Regina must choose this fate."

The other council members traded uncertain glances while Snow White and Charming seemed to carry on a silent debate. It was clear that Snow was hesitant to demand even this punishment. But maybe Ruby was right, maybe the mercy in this case was to give her a fresh start.

"We'll give her a choice then," Charming said finally. "The spindle still has enough poison left for another sleeping curse; Regina can pick from her own brands of punishment: eternal cursed sleep with her mother or a new life in this land."

* * *

"Why not just execute me and be done with it!" Regina gripped the cell bars as if the power of her rage would free her. "Or can't the two of you muster up enough courage between yourselves to do even that?"

"It seems more than fair given the circumstances-

"_Nothing_ is "fair" David, or haven't you learned that by now?"

"Nevertheless," Snow cut in before Regina could get going, "You saved my life again and now the debt is repaid. Choose the consequences of your actions Regina."

"You're a quick one to judge Snow, considering you never paid yours."

"I paid for mine for twenty-eight years. I lost my father and my daughter for a mistake made by a child. Don't speak to me of consequences," Snow snapped.

Regina's eyes flashed with contempt and fury and something, if one looked close enough, a little bit like fear.

"You can't think that you've defeated my mother. You've only distracted her temporarily."

"We'll make sure there's no one to wake her up," Charming insisted.

Regina scoffed with terrible laughter reminiscent of the Evil Queen she'd been. They weren't prepared at all, they couldn't even imagine what they would face should Cora wake. Charming's arrogance was his folly. The very cell she stood in now was a testament to that. They'd used no small amount of fairy dust on the prison, attempting to make it magic-proof but Regina could feel tendrils of power licking through the gaps in the bars, tempting her to seize them and vanish. That would not help Henry though, she reminded herself.

She weighed her options. Magical escape might buy her time, but if Henry had any shred of trust for her she was certain such an action would destroy what was left of it. With that option discounted, there were no others really. _Damnatio Memoriae_ was drastic, but preferable to any amount of time spent with her mother in a cursed netherworld. Perhaps it would even truly be a blessing. The curse Rumplestiltskin promised would bring her happiness had only nurtured her bitterness. Perhaps her mistake had been not forgetting along with everyone else.

There was still the problem of Cora. When Rumplestiltskin returned he might have the acuity to take care of her for good but would he manage do so before she found a way out of her spell?

Regina was certain his priority upon returning would be restoring Belle's memories. Which, now that she thought of it, might be the very loophole she needed. The fairies' blessing was a delicate thing; rarely bestowed because it was easily compromised.

"Henry's with Emma?" She clarified, knowing the damnable woman was outside of Storybrooke with the imp.

"Yes," Snow supplied for the second time, feeling that if Regina had one redeemable cell in her being, Henry was at the heart of it.

"If I accept this _blessing_," Regina spat out the word, "I want to remember Henry."

"Very well, you shall remember having a son," the Blue Fairy, who had watched the exchange silently from the doorway, promised.

Regina scoffed again but it was only a token effort. Her eyes had emptied of their rage, her grip on the cell slackened. She'd spent enough time playing word games to recognize when an amateur like the Blue Fairy tried to give a non-answer.

"We could wait until he and Emma return," Snow offered while Charming stiffened in silent disagreement at her side.

"No." Regina had had more than her fill heartfelt goodbyes. She wouldn't remember it and Henry wouldn't care for it. Even if he did…If he did then she still wouldn't subject him to it and perhaps one day what he'd remember was that she had tried to be what he deserved; that she'd surrendered for him when she had never given in before.

"I want the night to think about it."

Snow and Charming looked to the Blue Fairy, who nodded.

"Of course," Snow said. "We'll be back in the morning for your decision."

Regina glowered at them as they left, playing her part. She waited as the sound of David's truck roared to life and then faded away before seizing those tendrils of magic. She had a lot to do.

* * *

At eight o'clock precisely Charming, Snow and the Blue Fairy entered the Sheriff's office to find Regina standing in the middle of her cell, head held high looking as haughty and regal as ever. They gathered in front of the bars and waited expectantly for her to announce her decision.

Snow should have known that it would sound like a demand rather than surrender but she flinched when Regina met her gaze with a venomous glare and spoke:

"I wish for _Damnatio Memoriae._"

And so it was.


	2. Since You've Been Gone

**Since You've Been Gone**_  
_

_Should have taken the bug_, Emma thought for the fourth time in the hour she'd been driving. Gold's Caddy was a friggin' boat; a smoother ride than the Beetle but less dexterous on winding forest roads. It didn't help that it was _Gold's_ car. At least he'd opted for the backseat this timel. It made her feel like a chauffeur it was preferable to playing at friendliness. After what had happened in New York she was even less inclined to make an attempt at small talk.

"Do you think anything happened while we were gone?" Henry broke the silence with an uncharacteristically small voice. It was the first time he'd spoken since they'd turned off the freeway and the first time either of them had approached the subject of what might have gone on in Storybrooke during their absence.

Emma glanced in the rear-view mirror before answering; Gold was staring out the window and didn't appear to be paying attention.

"I'm sure Mary Margaret and David would have called kid," she replied. _Unless they couldn't_.

She didn't want to think about that. She hadn't had any problems with cellphone service while in Storybrooke, but apparently dialing into the town was a different matter. None of the numbers she had for Snow or David would connect; neither would Ruby's cell and even the sheriff's station routed to an error message. Henry had tried Regina with similar results. When they'd asked, Rumplestiltskin confirmed that the remaining part of the curse which prevented people from leaving with their memories intact was probably also the culprit for their communication problems. That was of course, before the incident with the mugger which had left him with only his memories as Mr. Gold.

"Do you think they told my mom about Archie?"

"I asked Mary Margaret to."

Who, in retrospect, was maybe not the best choice of messengers, but there hadn't been time to find Regina or anyone else to ask; not with Rumplestiltskin breathing down their necks, tossing out threats like beads at Mardi Gras.

"Yeah, but do you think she did?"

The kid was entirely too sharp. Emma huffed and tried to think of a reply that was honest _and_ optimistic.

"She promised she would."

They'd been gone nearly three weeks. Any scenario in which Regina still believed they thought her guilty of murdering Archie was unthinkable.

Henry sighed and resumed looking out his window. They were nearing Storybrooke now. Any minute they'd cross over the town boundary. It felt good to be going home, despite what may or may not have happened in their absence. It felt good to have a home to go _to_. At least this time Henry had been with her. The constant ache, like a missing limb, that she'd felt in the Enchanted Forest gone for this trip. Thinking of that awful awareness of being without brought on a fresh wave of guilt. As if falsely accusing the woman of murder when she desperately needed someone to believe her wasn't a big enough mistake, Emma had followed it up directly by skipping town with their son in tow. Regina would be out for her blood for leaving without so much as a word. But with the revelation that Cora was in town Emma had figured the further away from Storybrooke Henry was the safer he'd be. Emma would make the same choice again, but she didn't relish facing the fallout that was drawing nearer with every mile marker.

If it hadn't been for the timing and the constant worry over what was going on at home it would have been a nice vacation. Gold had put them up at the Marriott on Times Square and when she wasn't putting her bounty hunting skills to work Emma had shown Henry the city. New York wasn't one of the places she'd spent a great deal of time in, and experiencing the tourist and family friendly sights with him made it completely new. He hadn't had time to be amazed by Boston but he'd had plenty of wonder for Manhattan.

She'd learned more about Henry during this trip than she could ever have imagined learning when they were at home because for once they talked about normal things that didn't involve curses or fairy tales or ogres; just normal stuff that didn't still make her head spin if she thought about it too much. Like who would win in a fight: Darth Vader or Lord Voldemort? Emma won that debate –provided lightsabers could block spells.

They'd gone skating at Rockefeller Plaza and taken a carriage ride through Central Park. One night they'd gone to the movies at the biggest multiplex Emma herself had ever been in and had dinner while they watched _The Hobbit_, which Henry had proclaimed the coolest thing _ever_.

The night she'd finally tracked down Baelfire she took Henry to a Knicks game and in a rare moment Emma had told him about a foster brother she'd had who had lived for basketball and how he'd taught her how to dribble and shoot and taken her to play pickup games at the park.

Henry's enthusiasm for everything was refreshing and in that setting it didn't freak her out so much to think of herself as a mother. She had pictures on her cell phone of him dancing on the giant piano at FAO Schwarz and it hit her as she was taking them and planning to have them printed to give to Snow that for the first time she felt like a _real_ mom. Like she could actually, maybe be good at this.

The one thing they didn't talk about –that she supposed they should have but she'd been afraid to muck up a good thing- was Regina. Emma told herself they could figure that out when they got home, even as she thought about texting pictures of Henry to his other mother before remembering that they wouldn't go through. And then she'd wondered if that wasn't for the best. She doubted Regina would appreciate seeing what she was missing, there was no need to rub salt in festering wounds.

"We'll drop Gold off, and then we gotta find your mom," she decided out loud as they passed the 'Welcome to Storybrooke' sign and the need to find Regina and apologize for so many things pressed on her like a physical weight.

Henry didn't say anything, but from the corner of her eye she could see him nod and sit up straighter in his seat.

As they passed the new park on the outskirts of town they both looked and were relieved to see that it was crowded with children and adults –typical for a Saturday and a good sign that nothing catastrophic had occurred since they'd left. The trees thinned and they passed Stablebrooke, the farm that housed the livery and riding school.

"Hey! That's my horse!"

Emma glanced away from the road to where Henry pointed and saw the hind quarters of dappled horse galloping away from them with a female rider on its back.

"_Your_ horse?" Emma prodded, she was pretty sure David would have told her if he'd actually given the kid a pet. She glanced again, but couldn't get a better view of the animal in question. "You sure kid? You can't even see anything but its tail?"

"Positive; that's Apollo," he replied confidently.

"What happened to your knight lessons?" She asked since the subject had been brought up, sort of, and it was a safe enough conversation to have in front of Gold, whom she doubted was as oblivious as he was pretending to be.

Henry shrugged, "We were kinda busy trying to get you and Grandma home I guess."

"Think it's about time to start back up?" She still wasn't sure how they were going to define normal after four solid months of constant upheaval.

"Sure! You should too! You're going to need them just as much as I do," he said.

"Like sword fighting and stuff?"

"Yeah! And horseback riding, I bet Gramps will get you a horse too."

"We'll see," she said as the highway became Main Street and she braked in front of Gold's shop. "Home again, home again, jiggity jig."

They couldn't see much of town but it looked more or less the same as she remembered.

"There's a new sign over Michael's garage."

Well, maybe less than more.

"Yep, over the Gas 'n' Go too," Emma noticed. Her skin tingled with goose bumps and not in a good way. It didn't look like Cora had rained the apocalypse down on them. But everything looked just a little too pristine, as if Main Street and all the buildings along it had gotten a deep spring cleaning.

"If you're finished staring," Gold interrupted their visual search of the town. "I'd like to wrap up this little adventure."

"Of course," Emma tossed the keys at him without any warning. He managed to catch them, but only just, and he leveled a chilly glare at her as he straightened up. She popped the trunk and slammed the driver's side door. "Get your stuff Henry, we'll pick up the bug and go look for your mom."

Henry pulled his backpack and rolling suitcase from the trunk without a word. Emma followed suit, tugging her duffle bag out before she slammed the trunk shut too.

"Goodbye Mr. Gold," she said stiffly.

They left the man on the sidewalk, Emma didn't need to look back she could feel his eyes on them and knew he was staring impassively after them. As far as she was concerned he could figure out his own problems from here on out. She didn't owe him any more favors.

It wasn't a long walk from Gold's Pawn Shop to the converted warehouse that housed Mary Margaret's apartment. They waved to several people on the street, but none Emma was familiar with. She still had the feeling that something wasn't quite right, and the noticeably new signs and paint on the storefronts they passed wasn't doing anything to assuage it.

"They couldn't have cleaned up already if something _had_ happened right?"

"Not without…" Henry trailed off.

"_Magic_." They said together and picked up their pace.

No one answered when they knocked on the locked door of the apartment so Emma dug her keys out and opened it. Once inside they dropped their bags and gawked in the doorway.

The apartment had been completely renovated; except for the basic floor plan it was unrecognizable. The exposed beams that had formerly been painted white and distressed were now stained a dark honey color. The iron staircase and loft rails were now polished nickel. Behind the stairs, Mary Margaret's study and bedroom had been converted to a den. Black bookshelves and a desk were arranged directly to their left and a leather couch and oversized chair occupied the space where the bed had been. In place of the armoire there was a flat screen TV mounted over a modern looking entertainment center.

The kitchen table was ten feet in front of them instead of off to their right and the kitchen itself had been refinished. The cabinets had been painted black and new butcher block counter tops, fixtures, and stainless steel appliances had replaced the ancient ones Emma remembered.

To their right a wall of nickel and smoky glass blocked off the area that had been the living room. Henry promptly went over to investigate.

"It's a bedroom," he announced after sliding the door open enough to look inside.

Emma came up behind him to see for herself, taking in the queen sized bed with a white duvet that dominated the area. Her iPod dock rested on the bedside table and she recognized more of her stuff on the shelves. A doorway on the left led to a closet and then through to the bathroom which had remained in place but also featured new décor.

It was all much less Mary Margaret and much more…Emma.

"Cool!"

Emma hadn't noticed Henry leave to explore the upper level. She went back out into the living area to find him hanging over the railing of the upper loft.

"There's a room for me up here! Come see!"

She climbed the steps to find that her old room had been converted into the perfect dwelling for a boy Henry's age, though the shelves and desk were pretty bare. She could only assume that was because he hadn't had many things there to begin with.

"This is awesome!"

"Yeah." Her voice wavered around the word. She was verklempt. Totally and completely overwhelmed.

_What was going on_?

"I think we better go find your mom now." She pivoted abruptly to descend the stairs.

"Where do you think Grandma and Gramps are?" Henry asked as he bounced after her.

"Work maybe? David's probably at the police station, maybe Snow is with him? She used to volunteer at the hospital on Saturdays, she could be there too."

"Maybe we should find them first?"

"No, your mom is already gonna kill me for taking you outta town without talking to her first. If we go looking for Snow and David before you see her she'll probably dig me up, hex me, and then kill me again."

A deep frown settled on Henry's face.

"I'm kidding," Emma assured him. "But seriously, doncha think I've made enough mistakes where your mom is concerned? I don't wanna start all over again now that we're back."

He didn't answer right away and seeing such conflict apparent on his face made her chest hurt.

"Am I gonna live with you all the time?" He asked, because that was as good a question to start with as any.

Emma sighed, and stooped to level with him. She didn't have to crouch as much as she did when he'd found her a year ago. He'd grown so much in the months since the curse had broken and even more in the weeks they'd been gone. Regina was going to kill her. And she deserved it.

"We need to talk, all three of us, about what's gonna happen from here on out. If your mom and I have one thing in common it's that _you_ are our number one priority. And we're both going to be better about doing what's best for you."

"She's the Evil Queen! You're the White Knight! How can what's best for me be to stay with her?"

"She's your mom Henry, she was your mom when I couldn't be, and if she's still trying as hard to be your mom as she was before we left then it's time to give her a chance to be someone other than the Evil Queen." Emma was determined not to make the same mistake she now recognized she'd made outside the diner on the night of the welcome home party.

"But you can be my mom now."

"We need to talk to her," Emma repeated firmly. "I'm not sure how we're gonna work this all out. But I do know that she loves you, and I know that we're both gonna need her. We'll figure out what's best for all of us okay?"

He was rolling it over in his head, with an expression identical to the one Emma had seen on Regina's face during countless council meetings and it reaffirmed her words. He finally nodded.

"For _all_ of us," he repeated.

She ruffled his hair before ushering him towards the door. "Let's go."

She locked the apartment behind them and they found the bug parked where she'd left it, looking exactly like she'd left it, which was a relief in contrast to the subtle changes around the rest of town.

Regina's house looked pretty much the same as well, Emma noticed as they stopped in front of it.

"Ready or not, here we come," she muttered and was pleased to see Henry crack a smile before he exited the bug.

They strode up the front walk side by side and Emma tried not to think about the last time she'd been here. She shoved it from her mind. She couldn't move forward if she didn't.

They knocked. Then rang the bell. Henry was about to open the door and just walk inside –it was, after all, still his house- when the door finally opened. He took a breath and stepped forward. Maybe his mom wouldn't _actually_ kill Emma if she saw him first.

Snow White flew through the door. Snow White gathered them both in her arms.

"You're back!"

Emma and Henry stood frozen in her embrace wearing identical shocked expressions. Henry was the first to recover and hug his grandmother back. When Emma had gathered her wits she stepped back and away.

"Snow! What's going on? What are you doing here?"

"Where's my mom?" Henry added.

Snow laughed. "Um, I live here? Were you gone so long you forgot?"

Henry and Emma looked at each other then back to Snow.

"Since when? Where's Regina?"

"Who?"

"My mom! Where's my mom?"

It wasn't funny anymore.

"Snow, what's going on?"

"What do you mean what's going on?" Snow asked. "Is this a joke? Come on inside? How was your trip?"

"Snow –_Mom_- where is Regina?"

"Regina who?"

"Regina Mills? The woman who lives here?"

"What are you talking about Emma?"

"The mayor! Your ex-step-mother? The Evil Queen? Is any of this ringing a bell?"

"I'm the mayor," Snow insisted. "I have been since your broke the curse and I don't have a step mother, ex or otherwise. Seriously Em, what's going on with you; you both look like you've seen a ghost."

"Sorry Grams we gotta go!"

Henry grabbed Emma's hand and hauled her back down the walk. He practically jumped into the bug while Emma went around to her side on auto-pilot.

"_What's_ _going on?" _They asked each other at the same time.

"I dunno, do you think it's the curse? Could it have come back since we were gone?"

"I don't think it works that way kid. Besides, she answered to Snow, not Mary Margaret."

"Let's go!"

"Go where?"

"The cemetery." Henry gestured at the ignition because Emma wasn't moving fast enough.

"What's at the cemetery?"

"My mom's vault. She's gotta be there."

Emma wasn't sure she had as many pieces to this puzzle as Henry did, but she didn't have a better idea so she gunned the engine and drove toward the Mills' mausoleum. She hadn't even stopped the car all the way when Henry jumped out and ran towards the tomb. She threw the car into park in a red zone–who was going to arrest her anyway- and caught up with him.

"It's locked."

Emma didn't have her lock picks; they were in her duffel bag back at the apartment.

"Stand back," she decided. Since Regina was going to kill her anyway, adding to her list of transgressions wasn't going to hurt. She planted her left foot and kicked forward with her right, hitting the door just to the side of the lock. There was a crack and the door swung open slightly.

"Cool!"

"Glad you're impressed kid."

She followed him into the dim tomb and ran into his back when Henry stopped suddenly.

"What's up?"

"There's two coffins."

_Shit. _

When Emma had been there with Graham there had definitely only been one coffin.

_Shit_. Shit. Shit. Shit. SHIT!

The one on the left still said 'Henry Mills Sr. Beloved Father.' And the one on the right?

"_Cora Mills_," Henry read.

Emma didn't know whether to sigh in relief or start freaking out because apparently Cora _had_ come to town and was now deceased.

"Help me!" Henry's plea jump started Emma and she moved to his side at Henry Sr.'s coffin, which he was trying to push. She shoved too and was mildly surprised when it slid aside to reveal stone steps.

"Your mom has a vault?" She asked dumbly. "How did you know your mom has a vault?!"

Henry rolled his eyes and descended the steps. He loved his birth mother, but sometimes she seriously underestimated what he was capable of.

Sconces on the walls flared to life when they reached the bottom of the staircase, dimly lighting the network of corridors that obviously extended for some distance beneath the Storybrooke Cemetery. Emma gaped at Henry didn't pause on the landing and instead marched confidently down one of the hallways.

"Do you know where you're going?" She asked as she caught up with him.

"Not exactly," Henry admitted. "I got in a little bit of trouble last time I was here."

_The last time he was-_ Before Emma could ask for the details on that revelation the hallway opened into a chamber full of shelves which were full of trunks and boxes of various sizes, shapes and colors. One trunk the size of a paper box sat in the exact middle of the room. On top was a manila envelope labeled 'Emma.'

Henry handed Emma the envelope and set about opening the trunk, figuring his mom wouldn't have left a steamer trunk full of snakes or anything; even if she was going to kill Emma.

"Hey, maybe you should…wait," Emma's words trailed off as she pulled the contents of the envelope out and saw that they were legal documents. A quick scan confirmed that they granted Emma full custody of Henry and effectively reversed his adoption. _What the hell? _

She checked for a note, for any explanation at all. Regina wouldn't have given up Henry without a fight. The almost healed bruises on Emma's ass were a testament to that.

A whimper tore her attention from the papers in her hands and she looked at Henry to find him kneeling In front of the now- open trunk, clutching a letter with tears in his eyes. He looked forlornly back at her.

"She's gone."

* * *

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	3. Wishes

**Careful the wish you make, wishes come true.**

_A whimper tore her attention from the papers in her hands and she looked at Henry to find him kneeling In front of the now- open trunk, clutching a letter with tears in his eyes. He looked forlornly back at her._

"_She's gone." _

"There's another one for you too," Henry said dully as he held out a second envelope.

This one was smaller and white; it had an old fashioned seal on it, with a tree stamped into the crimson wax. Regina's meticulous script filled half the page inside.

_Emma_ (it read),

_If you're reading this then you know my mother managed to find a way here. Despite my actions to stop her, your charming parents felt it was necessary to punish me for the events following her arrival. Don't bother asking them what became of me. I've been sentenced to Damnatio Memoriae, a fairy "blessing" that will rewrite my identity and eliminate all evidence that Regina Mills ever existed. As such, no one will remember the sins of her mother. You, Henry and Rumplestiltskin are now the only ones who know of the danger sleeping in the coffin upstairs._

She's _been subdued for the time being but do not make the mistake of believing she's been stopped. She _will_ overcome the sleeping curse and then she _will_ come for Henry. She's taken her own heart and hidden it away; you won't be able to defeat her until you find the heart and return it to her body or crush it. Do not forget that all magic comes with a price and that there are _always_ loopholes in any spell. Rumplestiltskin might help you beat Cora but not unless it directly benefits him; do not take any deals he offers at face value. _

_I'm trusting you to protect our son from my mother. _

_Don't make me regret my decision. _

_-R_

"Shit!" Emma crunched the letter in her fist. She wanted to kick something! Stress, frustration, uncertainty and rage all boiled up inside her and she was buzzing with the need to unleash it but there was _nothing _to unleash it on_. _Rumplestiltskin was gone; Gold was useless in his stead. Regina –who she'd been counting on to help her set him right- was gone and her parents were responsible but, if Regina's note was correct, didn't even know what they'd done.

"_Shit_!" She palmed her face and tried to pull herself together. The last thing Henry needed right now was to see her freak out. She dragged her hand down enough to be able to look at her son who was swiping at his eyes as he read his own letter.

She felt utterly unequipped to handle this. Emma was a doer –but there was nothing to be done, no way to fix his pain. She dropped down to the floor next to him, hoping it was enough. She knew it wasn't but when he immediately snuggled into her she figured she'd done something right.

"Nobody told her about Archie," Henry said with a sniffle when he finished reading.

"What?" Emma asked; of all the things she'd expected him to comment on, that hadn't been it.

"She said she was so sorry that Archie's gone. Nobody told her he was alive and that we knew Cora had framed her for his death."

His words felt like a blow to her chest. _Shit_. Would it have made a difference? Snow and Charming had known, and they'd condemned her anyway, but if Emma wondered if Regina had known that she wasn't being held accountable for that, at least, she would have let them carry out her punishment.

"Did she tell you what happened?" Emma asked, half hoping that Regina had. He deserved to know, but she didn't know how she was going to explain if she hadn't.

Henry nodded against her chest. He swallowed the lump in his throat, "She said that she had helped Cora do some bad things so that Cora would trust her but that she stopped her in the end –so instead of punishing her for all the bad things she'd done to them the Blue Fairy put a blessing on her that would give her a new life –like the curse gave to everybody in the book."

The explanation was gentler, at least, than the one she'd given Emma but it didn't make it suck less. There was no way to know now what had really happened. Had Regina really deserved her fate? Or had everyone jumped to conclusions the way they had over Archie's presumed death and punish her because they finally could, because she and Henry hadn't been there. She hadn't stopped them even though it had probably been in Regina's power to do so –she'd managed to leave them goodbye letters in her vault after all, she should have been able to escape too.

"She said that the spell would put her in town somewhere. But she said she reversed my adoption, that she'd make you my mom officially, so I can live with you no matter what."

"She did, that's what was in the big envelope."

Henry shuddered in her arms.

"I didn't want it like this," he whispered around fresh tears. "I just wished I could live with you all the time. I didn't mean to want her gone. I wanted you both."

"This isn't your fault Henry. The only person here who hasn't made any mistakes is you. And she knew you loved her. She was trying to be worthy of that."

Henry's head hurt. Crying always made his head hurt. And trying to reconcile the Evil Queen and the woman who had raised him and the woman who had saved the town from her mother –the _real_ evil queen- into one person made it worse. This wasn't how it was supposed to be.

"Did your letter say anything else?" Emma asked, hoping that Regina had given Henry more hints as to what they were supposed to do –but perhaps in a less typically bossy way.

"To remember that she loved me, no matter what," his lips scrunched around the words. They were an empty promise, she wouldn't remember him. "And that she saved some things for me, they're in the trunk."

"I'm so sorry Henry," Emma said, "I didn't want it to happen this way either."

"It's not a very good happy ending."

Emma sighed. She didn't know how to tell him that very few people got happy endings, that sometimes the things you hope for never come. But then who was she to talk? She'd wished all her life for a family and she finally had one because of the child resting in her arms. Was she really that cynical, even after all the impossible things she'd witnessed since Henry had come back into her life? Did she want him to be?

"Maybe that's because this isn't the end," she said carefully. Hope was a fragile thing. "It ain't over till it's over –and it definitely ain't over yet."

Henry sat up so he could look her in the eye. This was usually his speech; it was strange to hear it coming from Emma's lips.

"Your mom's still in town kid and every spell has a loophole," she quoted Regina's words. Maybe they'd been a hint? Maybe there was a way to break the enchantment –even if it had been meant as a mercy instead of a curse.

Hope flickered bright in Henry's eyes.

"It might take us a while," Emma warned. "We've gotta figure out how to bring back Rumplestiltskin's memories too –maybe him first, so we can figure out how to undo the fairy blessing."

"And Sneezy and Belle, we need to get their memories back too," Henry reminded her, excited now with the familiar prospect of a quest.

And they needed to figure out how to find Cora's heart before she managed to break her own enchantment.

Where would they even start?

"I think we should go back to see Snow White, we need to know what she actually remembers and what she thinks she remembers."

"Good idea," he climbed off Emma's lap and tucked his letter in the trunk before shutting it.

She helped him pick it up, because it was heavy even though it wasn't very large, and they made their way back out the bug. After packing it in the back seat she retrieved a spare set of handcuffs she'd kept in her glove box and jury rigged a lock around the mausoleum's door handles. That would keep anyone out until she could get a better one on it –maybe Gold would have a magic-proof padlock in his shop.

* * *

Charming was just getting "home" when they pulled up to the mansion.

"You're back!" He pulled them into a bear hug when he met them on the walk. "How was the trip?"

"It was a trip alright," Emma muttered while Henry launched into a narrative about New York City and all the things they'd seen there.

"Did you find Rumplestiltskin's son?"

"Why don't we go inside," Emma suggested instead of answering. "I'm sure Mom wants to know what happened too, no point in telling it twice."

"Sure."

David led the way into the house. Emma and Henry traded a look as they followed him, confirming to each other that they both felt weird about following Charming into Regina's house. Into Henry's house.

The boy's eyes widened and his renewed cheer faded once they stepped through the door. They hadn't seen inside when they'd stopped by earlier, it was completely different, just as the apartment had been. All of Regina's super chic décor had been changed out. The new style wasn't quite as precious as Mary Margaret's apartment had been but it was softer and more colorful than the scrupulous elegance he'd grown up in. The mirrors hanging around the foyer had been replaced with paintings, the wood floors and railings stained a lighter color, the formerly white walls were now butter yellow and navy blue curtains framed the windows. Henry looked for a single thing he recognized and couldn't find one. He shot a wary look at Emma and then dashed up the stairs.

She waited at the landing, knowing he was headed toward his bedroom, suspecting that it would be just as changed as everything else had been. Regina had said that all evidence of her existence would be erased but the magnitude of that statement had only begun to become apparent. Emma marveled that a single spell could so drastically change everything. Had Snow and Charming known when they'd made their decision? She needed to believe they hadn't. Because if they had, and they'd still followed through with it she wasn't sure what that said about them. Or rather, she was, and she didn't like it one bit.

She heard a door shut loudly and looked up to see Henry quickly descending the stairs with a distressed expression on his face. His eyes looked a little glassy again but he blinked to clear them, determined not to dissolve into tears now.

"Different?"

He nodded and when she opened her arms to him he ran into them.

"The pictures in the hallway are gone," he said when he was sure his voice wouldn't crack. "All my stuff is just –gone."

Emma's heart broke for him for what seemed like the nth time that day. No, if her parents had indeed known the consequences of their blessing, she didn't like what it said one bit.

"Emma!" Snow interrupted them cheerily as she came out of the kitchen. "Hi Henry! I wasn't sure you'd be back. Dinner's almost ready, will you join us?"

Emma nodded stiffly, managing a crooked smile for her mother while Henry stepped out of her arms and gave Snow a cursory hug.

"Excellent. We want to hear all about your trip," Snow gestured towards the dining room. "Go sit down."

Emma and Henry did as they were told, pulling up seats at the (square) dining room table. Snow and Charming joined them from the kitchen seconds later, laden with a pot roast, mashed potatoes and a garden salad.

"Dig in!"

They all did so with gusto. Snow was a good cook and Emma and Henry hadn't eaten since before boarding the plane at JFK that morning.

"The house looks nice," Emma said casually after she'd had a few bites. "How long have you lived here now?"

Snow's face screwed up into a bewildered expression.

"Five months," she said. "Ever since the curse was broken and I took over as mayor?"

"And who was mayor before you?" Henry asked.

"Rumplestiltskin," Snow replied as if they'd asked if the sky was still blue. "Seriously what is up with you two, you've been acting strangely since you got back."

"Just checking," Emma covered. "It's weird to be back here after it all. Like it's a totally different place. Everything looks newer."

"Well, it _is_," Snow said. "The storm was pretty bad; we had to rebuild a lot."

"There was a storm?"

"Sure," David jumped in. "Two days after you left, we thought you probably would have heard about it on the news. Didn't New York get hit too?"

Emma shook her head, "It rained a little; nothing catastrophic. Why didn't you call?"

"We didn't want to worry you, there weren't too many injuries –although the convent did catch fire and two of the fairies wound up in the hospital. But both Nova and Dora are fine now. And everything's been repaired; good as new."

"You could have called," Emma said. "We tried, but apparently calls placed outside of Storybrooke don't go through. Something to do with the curse we think."

"How did it go? Did you find Rumplestiltskin's son?"

Emma pursed her lips and looked to Henry as if asking where she should start but the little traitor just gave her an innocent look back as he promptly stuffed a giant dollop of potatoes in his mouth.

"Yes, we did," she started with the easy part first. "'_Bael Rumson_' is a professor of literature at NYU. He looks like he's in his late sixties but he informed us that he's been living here for a _hundred and fourteen_ years, making him a ripe ol' one hundred and twenty eight."

Snow and Charming looked stricken. They hadn't expected that.

"We had lunch outside a little bistro near Central Park," Emma explained further. "He was pretty shocked to see Rumplestiltskin –especially since his father hasn't aged a day since they last saw one another. Henry and I gave them some privacy so I don't know the full story but Bael told us that two teenagers had caused a commotion at the next table and when one of them nearly bowled their table over Rumplestiltskin was knocked out of his chair. They grabbed his coat and ran –probably thought that's where his wallet would be. Unfortunately his memory talisman was tucked inside the coat, out of sight, and the charm broke when the boys made off with it. Rumplestiltskin reverted to Mr. Gold and he was not happy to find himself sitting with a stranger in a city he had no reason to be in."

Snow still looked stricken but now Charming just looked surprised.

"He doesn't remember who he is?"

Emma shook her head.

"We tried to explain, but he didn't even really remember Emma," Henry said. "He did remember me though, so he came back to Storybrooke with us."

Which, after the threats he'd dropped to get them to accompany him in the first place, was more than Emma felt he deserved.

"So he thinks he's just Mr. Gold, former mayor and current pawn broker? No magic? No Dark One?"

"Something like that."

"Well, that complicates things."

"You have no idea," Henry mumbled archly.

"That could be a good thing," Snow commented, "We'll all be safer without the Dark One living down the street."

"We have to bring him back," Emma said. "We've got to figure out how to get everyone's memories back."

"And how will we get back to the Enchanted Forest without him?" Charming added.

"Maybe we don't," Snow said. "Maybe we just live here, happy and peaceful and with indoor plumbing for the rest of our lives."

"This isn't our home!"

"It has been for twenty-eight years. What is so bad about here that you're so anxious to leave?"

"What about Belle's memories, and Sneezy?" Emma interrupted, knowing that if this argument got going they'd be here all night and that's the last thing she wanted to do.

Snow shrugged, "We'll try to get their memories back of course. But Belle has actually been quite happy to go back to her life as the town librarian –maybe it's a blessing to not remember life with the Dark One."

Emma gaped at her.

"You would condemn her to remembering twenty-eight years of being imprisoned in an asylum just so it doesn't mess with your happy ending?"

"I'd hardly call the library an _asylum_ Emma."

"The-" Emma stopped, and looked again at Henry as she put the pieces together. "Belle is the librarian. Was she married to Gold?"

"No," Snow looked confused. "She wasn't with anybody as far as I know."

Emma would have to ponder that one for a while; even Henry looked lost. Without Regina everything made even less sense.

"They deserve to remember themselves; _you_ wanted to remember your life. We've got to give them the choice at least. We've got to get their memories back."

"Emma's right. It's not like they crossed the line on their own. Sneezy didn't know what would happen and Belle was forced," David said.

Her mother nodded and caught David's eye; the two seemed to have a silent conversation –Emma hated that- and Snow spoke up again.

"Several people did cross the town line, knowing what would happen," Snow admitted.

"What?

"Squire Gordon and his wife," David continued. "Doug was a lawyer under the curse; he accepted a job offer with a law firm in Massachusetts."

"They just left?"

"He came to us and said he'd sold his farm and that they were moving. There were at least four others, they didn't even bother to say goodbye, their houses are empty."

"Doug said they preferred their lives here to what they'd had in the Enchanted Forest."

"And they sold a whole farm to who, Old MacDonald?"

Snow and Charming looked uncomfortable again.

"To outsiders," Snow admitted. "They said our 'friend' Greg Mendel helped them list it online and it sold within two days."

"There are more outsiders in Storybrooke?"

"Who's Greg?" Henry asked.

"The man who had an accident crossing the town line," David answered. "Apparently Mr. Gordon didn't think anyone would really be interested in buying the place but the deal was made before he had a chance to talk to anyone."

"And we're…okay with this?"

Charming shrugged, "There wasn't really anything we could do without raising suspicion. Greg has already caused enough fuss. He's a reporter, he's been running around town looking for a story –he swears he saw a man with fire in his hand the night of the wreck."

"So he _was_ lying!"

"Evidently. Luckily the storm hit before Whale released him from the hospital so Rumplestiltskin was long gone and everyone was too busy trying to get the town back together for him to cause a panic."

Emma wasn't listening very closely, she was too busy berating herself for believing his stupid texting while driving story. Some superpower she had.

"What about Hook?" Emma asked, when she remembered another loose end that had been hanging when she'd left.

Charming looked uncomfortable.

"Dead. He died the day of the storm."

"He was in the hospital!" Emma was pretty sure that with his injuries he wouldn't have been released after two days. Surely he hadn't escaped.

"Whale says he had a massive heart attack –probably the result of his internal injuries- and they couldn't work fast enough to save him."

Emma dropped her fork and rubbed her face; her gut told her that wasn't true. But was Charming lying or did he just not know because whatever had happened to Hook had had something to do with Regina and Cora? Or was her superpower acting up again? Was there not one thing that could be simple in this goddamn town?

"A_ heart_ attack?" Henry asked suspiciously. At least the kid's instincts were telling him something too.

Snow and Charming just nodded.

"We buried him at sea, there wasn't much else we could do," Snow said.

"So Hook was here but is dead now, of heart complications," Emma said, not caring that her words would sound strange to her parents. "You've replaced Rumple as the mayor and you live here, Henry and I live in your old apartment downtown?"

"Ye-es. Emma, are you sure you're okay?"

"Fine, just tired –it's a lot to take in after everything," Emma waved her off. "What about these new people in town? Are we going to do anything about them?"

"Not much we can do," David said, resignation hung on every word. "Everyone in town is already hyper aware of what the outside world would do with us if they know, so we've all been flying under the radar. I think that's what made people like the Gordons leave, the stress of wondering when our secret will get out –something we wouldn't have to worry about if we went back to the Enchanted Forest."

"In the meantime," Snow interjected, pointedly ignoring her husband's last statement. "We carry on with our lives here, without Rumplestiltskin it shouldn't be too hard to keep Mr. Mendel from seeing anything he shouldn't. Sneezy –Tom- is back at the pharmacy and Belle is back at the library. We're all living our Storybrooke lives anyway; we just have our families and friends with us now. It's better."

"We have a werewolf and God knows what running around too," Emma protested.

"And old enemies along with old friends," David said, thinking of King George, who he was sure they hadn't seen the last of.

"That werewolf is your _godmother_ Emma, and one of your best friends. Ruby can control herself, no one outside has to know," Snow insisted.

"Ruby is the least of our problems. This outsiders thing is a time bomb. We need to figure out how to get the memories back so we can fix the boundary. We can figure out who wants to leave and who we want to keep out after that."

"That's what we'll focus on then," Snow said. "One thing at a time."

"Right. So first things first, where's Greg Mendel staying and do we know who bought the Gordon's farm?"

"Greg is staying at Granny's of course. David and I haven't gotten out to Stablebrooke yet but the Gordons seemed pretty happy with the sell. Even though they wanted to leave they wouldn't have left it to just anybody."

"You let an outsider live here for how long without investigating a little?" Emma asked incredulously.

"We've had a lot on our plates," Snow defended them. "And we didn't want to raise suspicion by barging in on him."

"But maybe it would be good for the Sheriff to drop by and introduce herself," David suggested.

"Uh uh, too weird, I've lived a lot of places but I've never had the sheriff stop by to introduce themselves."

"But this is a small town," Snow pointed out. "Still too weird?"

"Yeah," Emma said definitively.

"We could go visit my horse?" Henry suggested.

"Did you really give him a horse?"

"Not exactly," David assured her. "But that actually might work. I had a deal with Doug to reserve a couple horses in order to teach Henry to ride. I could go talk to the new owner about continuing the agreement. That is –if you still want to learn Henry?"

"Definitely!"

"I'll stop by tomorrow then."

"Great," Emma said.

"So, what else have we missed?" Henry asked.

Emma tuned them out for the remainder of the dinner, she wasn't sure she could handle any more revelations. When they finished cleaning up she made their excuses and ushered Henry out, promising she'd call the next day.

* * *

It was strange to be here, in a home that was home but somehow . . . wasn't. Henry had retreated to his bedroom with the trunk once they'd returned and Emma had let him have his space. But two hours later she still hadn't settled into her space and the need to check on him was overwhelming. So she made her way up the stairs into the loft.

Henry was sitting in the window seat between his bed and desk. The trunk was open before him and its contents were stacked around him. He was wrapped in a blue patchwork blanket flipping through a photo album too quickly to be really looking at the pictures.

He didn't look up when she entered but did speak before she tried to awkwardly open a conversation.

"She's not in any of these," he said, nudging a discarded album towards Emma. She picked it up, letting it fall open in her hands as she sat down across from Henry. It was a baby album. Hundreds of pictures of her tiny son filled the pages. Some had obviously been taken in a studio but most were candid –though no less professional looking. Every single one had the date and a caption written near it in Regina's impeccable hand. Emma poured over the photos, her fingers tracing the perfect lines of tiny Henry in an infant tub.

"The pictures in our house are all gone," he continued. "It's just these and she's not in any of them."

"Did she take these?" Emma couldn't tear her eyes away from the baby pictures. Hundreds of snapshots of the life that she'd missed.

"Most of them; she always had a camera before…before the book. I stopped letting her take my picture so she put it away." Regret colored his voice.

"She probably saved the other pictures too," Emma tried to comfort him. "Maybe they're in her vault somewhere."

"She probably thought I wouldn't want them," he said as he snapped the album he was holding shut.

Emma reached out, not certain what to say because his words were probably true. She swept his bangs back gently.

"We're going to find her Henry. We can start looking tomorrow; we'll find her and we'll find a way to bring her memories back."

"What then? Her letter said the blessing was a mercy –will everyone want to kill her if they can remember her?"

"Hey, I promised that I wouldn't happen. That stands as long as I'm around, I promise," Emma swore. "You know you're the one who's always telling me to have faith, that everything looks worse right before it gets better. Don't let go of that –we wouldn't be here without it. I know it looks pretty bad right now but we are going to make it better."

Henry nodded glumly.

"C'mon, it's time for bed. We're not gonna be able to help anyone if we're exhausted."

She shut off the reading lamp and helped him move the albums back to the trunk. When he'd slipped beneath the covers on his new bed she tucked his old blanket around him.

"Hey, can I borrow this tonight?" She asked, holding up the album he'd handed her.

Henry nodded.

"Thanks kid," she said as she kissed his forehead. "Sweet dreams."

"G'night."

"Hey Emma!"

Emma paused at the top of the stairs and looked back at him.

"I love you."

Emma smiled, "I love you too kid."

Emma slipped down the stairs and settled onto the couch below Henry's room with a throw blanket. She cracked open the album. Starting at the beginning this time she perused the pictures inside, reading every caption and finally believed without a shred of doubt, that whatever mistakes Regina Mills had made in her life, loving the son she'd adopted was not one of them. She'd loved Henry as her own and had given him everything; things eighteen-year-old Emma Swan had not been capable of providing. Not the least of which being an album detailing the first months of his life. Emma regretted many things about her life, but was surprised to find that it turned out that giving Henry up, giving Henry _more_, was not one of them. Not really. Though it was still bittersweet to look at these pictures and see in vivid color –or sometimes black and white- what she'd missed. She fell asleep on the couch with tear tracks on her cheeks and the baby album clutched in her arms.

* * *

_Author's note: I hope this chapter answered a few questions at least. I'm making up my own timeline, since the creators haven't been very explicit about theirs. I promise the next chapter will be less down and we'll see where Regina wound up. Feedback is always appreciated. Thanks for reading! _


	4. The Meet Cute

**The Meet Cute**

"We have no food," Henry announced when Emma stepped out of her room the next morning.

"Not even cereal?" She asked as she pulled her freshly curled hair back into a loose ponytail.

"Nope, nada."

"I guess magical renovations don't cover groceries."

"Maybe they just weren't sure when we'd be back?"

"Maybe," Emma muttered. "Go get dressed. We'll have breakfast and Granny's and go shopping."

"Um, while we're out, we should maybe pick me up some more clothes?"

"What's wrong with the ones you have?"

"Well, there's only what I had packed; everything else. . ."

"Is gone," Emma finished when he trailed off. Magic was such a pain in her ass, "Right. Okay, grocery shopping and clothes shopping, my favorite things."

Henry smirked and dashed up the stairs while Emma looked around the apartment again. The past few months had been a constant roller coaster of adjustment for Emma; from the curse being broken to winding up in fairy tale land, and then getting hauled off to Manhattan. Now normal was being redefined yet again, and now included learning to be a full-time mom, the sole provider and caretaker for an eleven year old.

"Hey kid, throw down your dirty clothes! I'll start a load of laundry."

"They're_ all_ dirty!"

They'd sent out the laundry for the hotel service to take care of during their trip, but it had been a week since the last time they'd done that.

"Then pick the cleanest ones and give me the rest!"

"Ok!"

The next thing Emma knew jeans, t-shirts, socks and underwear were raining down on her from the upper loft.

"Hey! Be careful," She yelled when a pair of jeans nearly took out a decorative bowl that was sitting on the kitchen counter.

"You said throw 'em down," Henry griped as he descended the stairs seconds later, pulling a long sleeved t-shirt over his head as he went.

"In a pile maybe? It's not dodgeball."

"Sorry," Henry mumbled as he helped her gather his clothes.

The washer and dryer were still stacked in a closet in the bathroom. Emma dropped the pile of clothes in front of it and hauled open the closet door and noted new appliances had replaced the old ones.

"Add laundry detergent to the list of stuff we need," she announced.

"We have a list?"

"Yeah –it says 'everything' and 'laundry detergent'."

"We'd better get going."

* * *

"Hey Emma, Henry! Welcome back," Ruby called out from behind the counter at Granny's. "Sit down, I'll be right with you."

"Thanks Ruby," Emma said as Henry led the way to their usual table. The diner was fairly crowded with other Sunday brunchers, but none Emma recognized, though she traded polite nods with a few they passed.

"Hello Mr. Swan, it's good to see you again."

"Hi Principal Hubbard," Henry replied to the aging woman whose table shared a bench with theirs. She had silver-white hair, cat-eye glasses and appeared to have just come from church.

"I trust we'll see you back in school now that you've returned to Storybrooke?"

"Yes ma'am, I'll be there tomorrow. We're going shopping to pick up new uniforms."

"Oh? What happened to your old ones?"

"They were," Henry realized she didn't know about the spell and changed his explanation, "Lost. In the laundry. You know how dryers are."

"Oh," Principal Hubbard sniffed and eyed Emma over the rims of her glasses. "Well, these things happen. I look forward to seeing you in class once more. I'm sure Mr. Crane will be happy to work with your mother to help you catch up on all that you have missed these passed weeks."

"Definitely, see you tomorrow."

"Good day to you, Mr. Swan." She returned his smile; her face slid back into a stern expression as she added, "Miss Swan."

Emma forced a tight smile to her face as she nudged Henry straight passed their usual booth to the one behind it; as far away from Principal Hubbard as they could get without obviously trying to find a table away from hers.

"You didn't tell me Professor McGonagall was your principal _Mr. Swan_," Emma whispered as they took off their coats and sat down.

Henry laughed but quieted when his mother glared at him and glanced over her shoulder to see if the principal had heard.

"Seriously, kid."

"You've read _Harry Potter_?"

"_That's_ what you took from this? Of course I've read _Harry Potter_; hasn't everybody?"

"I just hadn't figured you for the type I guess."

She wasn't actually, but the prison library had been limited to donated books and they'd gotten about fifty copies of the series after the demand for them eased a bit. The story of a boy who'd been left on a doorstep had resonated for obvious reasons. She'd read the first three to Henry; it had helped with the loneliness without making her feel like she was crazy for talking to her stomach. After he'd been born and she'd returned to the solitary cell the fourth book had gotten her through her post-partum depression.

"Well, I made an exception."

"She does kinda remind me of McGonagall," Henry said as he pondered it. "Too bad she's not a witch. Do you think wizards could be real? I mean if the fairy tales were…"

"Kid the last thing this world needs is more magical people running around in it. It's just as well we don't have Lord Voldemort to deal with on top of Rumplestiltskin and Cora."

"Sorry it took so long," Ruby interrupted before Henry could reply. She set down two plates loaded with pancakes, scrambled eggs and bacon, as well as two mugs of cocoa (requisite whip cream and cinnamon included). "We ran out of batter, Granny had to make a new batch. How was New York?"

"Awesome!" Henry declared around a mouthful of pancake.

"It was an adventure," Emma conceded.

"Did you find Mr. Gold's son?"

"Yeah, it was an interesting reunion." Emma wasn't sure how many details she wanted to give in the diner. She knew Ruby could keep quiet, despite her ear for gossip, but she wasn't sure about the rest of the patrons.

"We'll have a girls' night," Ruby caught the hint. "We're overdue. You can tell me all about it."

"Sure."

"Eat up then; I've got tables to bus. I'll text you."

"Thanks Ruby," Henry and Emma chorused.

"So where do you go to get clothes around here?" Emma asked as she tucked in. She hadn't been subjected to such shopping in Storybrooke yet and it wasn't as if they had a JC Penney's.

"Mom usually takes –took," Henry corrected himself, "me to Weaver's Emporium."

"We'll start there then," Emma decided. "And get groceries last, so they don't have to sit in the car."

Not that anything would spoil if it was left outside in Maine in March.

"Good plan," Henry said.

They finished their food in comfortable silence and Emma left enough cash to cover their bill and tip on the table before they waved to Ruby and headed out.

* * *

Weaver's Clothing Emporium was a large store by Storybrooke standards and Emma was glad Henry knew where he was going. She followed him to the boys' section where there was a rack devoted to school uniform items and he immediately picked out the necessary pants and polos to replace the ones he'd lost.

Emma stood back and let him make his selections. How many clothes did eleven-year-olds need? She was pretty sure Regina had done all the shopping for Henry in the past and given the mayor's fashion sense and rampant perfectionism Emma was also pretty sure her son was used to having more clothes than a young boy would ever care to wear.

"Can I get an Avengers shirt?" Henry interrupted her musings.

Emma eyed the stack of clothes in the cart. "Sure, but let's trade it for like four of those button downs okay?"

This was going to be a very expensive outing but it wasn't the money that made her insides squirm. Emma Swan just wasn't a spender. It was easier to move money than stuff, so she'd never accumulated much of the latter, preferring to spend what she earned on housing outside of neighborhoods like the ones she'd grown up in, and save the rest in order to pack up and leave with the change of the winds. Stuff just tied you down.

She looked at her son who was choosing between an Iron Man shirt and one with the whole Avengers team on it and reminded herself that she was a mom now; her kid needed more stability than that. Stuff was stability.

"Get 'em both kid," she told him. The bright "Thanks!" and smile replaced the squirmy feeling with warm –dare she think it- _maternal_ ones.

The rest of the stop for clothing went quickly. Henry was a lot more practical than she had been at eleven and he made quick, prudent choices to replace his vanished wardrobe. They were nearly to the car with their purchases when Emma's phone rang. She juggled her keys and the bags she was carrying to one hand and fished the device out of her back pocket.

"Hello?" She waved the keys at Henry, gesturing for him to pop the hood on the bug so they could stow the bags.

"Emma, it's David, I just wanted to let you know Snow and I drove out to Stablebrooke to introduce ourselves."

Emma rolled her eyes as she transferred the phone to her other ear as she got in the car so she could take the keys back from Henry and start it. She wondered whether her parents' overzealous sense of friendliness came from the Storybrooke or fairy tale side of their personalities.

"Did you ask about Henry's horse?" she asked to clue the kid into what the call was about.

"We did. Henry is still welcome to use Apollo anytime."

"Great, he'll be happy to hear that," Emma gave a thumbs-up to Henry, who danced a little in his seat while he put the belt on. "Um, are you going to be continuing his lessons? 'Cause I know princes and princesses are supposed to be naturals or whatever at this sort of thing but I gotta tell you my riding skills range from zero to non-existent."

And Henry had told her about his last venture to the stables. She was no expert but "let the horse tell you when to ride" did not qualify as instruction in her book.

"Well, that's the thing. Your mom thought you might appreciate more-

"Supervised!" Snow yelled in the background.

"-_Formal_ lessons," David said. Emma could tell by his tone that he'd already gotten a talking-to about the definition of riding lessons. "Anyway, the woman who bought Stablebrooke-

"Woman? I thought you said it was a man?"

"We _assumed_ it was a man from what the Gordons told us," Snow, who was clearly now on speaker, replied.

"Right," David continued. "Apparently Elena is an accomplished rider and trainer in this world and she bought Stablebrooke intending to start a riding school."

"In Storybrooke, Maine," Emma said skeptically as she started the car and pulled away from the curb. "Which didn't exist on any map until about three months ago?"

"She said the Gordons offer was too good to pass up. Right place, right time kinda thing."

That did not dispel Emma's feeling that it was all a little too coincidental.

"So is Storybrooke going to be the horse hub now or what?"

"Well, Elena said she was hoping to pull out of the equestrian world for the most part. It sounds like she'll travel a bit but she isn't planning to bring a lot of people around," Snow said.

"If we have to deal with outsiders, better they're like her," David added.

"Right," Emma said. "Well, I'm sure Henry's up for it. We'll talk about it and I'll give her a call. What did you say her name was again?"

"Elena LaVerne," Snow replied. "But we already signed him up. I mean –well, we thought since David was going to work with him after school anyway, we might as well since we were out there."

Emma opened and closed her mouth, but no response came readily.

"Great," she finally said. "Uh, when do they start?"

"Officially? Next week. But Elena said you're welcome to take Henry out anytime."

"Fantastic," Emma said, and then hoped her mother wouldn't notice she was mocking her enthusiasm.

If she did, Snow ignored it. "You know, if you'd like to learn I'm sure you could take lessons too, or David or I could teach you?"

"That's- That's definitely something to think about," she said, braking a little harder than she intended as she wheeled into a parking spot outside the market. "So Henry and I are just about to walk into the store, can I call you later?"

"Yeah, I-

"Great! I'll talk to you soon, bye." Emma hung up and let the phone drop into the console.

"Everything okay?" Henry asked.

"Oh, yeah," Emma said. "Just dandy. We're one big happy family. Everything is awesome."

She felt bad as soon as the words were out because, sarcasm aside, the words were basically true. So what if they were a little dysfunctional? Dysfunctional beat the holy crap out of nonexistent.

"Sorry," she amended. "Your grandparents are pretty psyched about this horse thing. They signed you up for lessons."

"Cool!"

"Glad you think so."

"You don't?"

"They could have asked first."

"But you already said Gramps could. What's the big deal?"

"It's not; it's just nice to be asked sometimes. I mean they don't even know this lady, she could be a serial killer, or a circus clown…"

Henry laughed, "You sound like my mom."

The paradox of that though seemed sobering because his laughter turned into a deep frown seconds after it started.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Emma asked.

Henry sighed. "A good thing."

"It's okay to miss her y'know?"

Henry nodded.

"Do you think it's possible for someone to be a bad person but be a good mom?" He asked.

Emma shut the engine off and leaned back heavily into her seat, bracing for another deep talk as if it were a head on collision.

"I think it's pretty possible yeah," she said finally. "But…I mean maybe your mom wasn't really a bad person?"

"She was an evil queen," Henry said with damning authority.

"Yeah, but…how old was she when she became the evil queen?"

Henry shrugged.

"I've been thinking about this a lot, because she _was_ your mom, and kid, she did a heck of a job at it for ten years. Look at how great you turned out? I was thinking last night –she was probably your mom almost as long as she was the Evil Queen. And she was just the super uptight, cranky, bossy, mayor for even longer than that right?"

"But she framed Mary Margaret; she made it look like Kathryn died."

"I know; she made a lot of bad choices. But the thing is we all make bad choices sometimes. And I really, really believe she was trying to change her life because she loved you."

Henry didn't answer, but she could practically hear the gears in his head processing what she'd said.

"I know it's pretty messed up. I wish I had easy answers for you."

Henry sighed again and stared at the dashboard as if it held the absolution he sought.

"I think they made a really bad choice when they erased her," he said in a small voice that broke Emma's heart to hear.

"Me too kid, but I promised we're gonna get her back and I have a feeling we're gonna find her real soon."

Like, as soon as she could get to a computer and Google Elena Laverne.

"You've got a lead already? How?"

"I've got a hunch," Emma admitted. "Don't get your hopes up. I'll let you know if it pans out."

"Aw, c'mon!"

"No way," she made a zipping motion across her lips.

She was thrilled that he was able to bounce quickly out of his bouts of sadness. She knew he was beginning to miss Regina desperately and that he felt guilty they hadn't parted on better terms. But she took it as a good sign that he hadn't lost his faith that all would be happy in the end and that he seemed to be taking everything in stride. Hopefully that meant he'd turn out okay.

"Let's go, we've got groceries to buy and dinner to make. All these deep and philosophical conversations make me hungry."

They climbed out of the car and Emma draped her arm around his shoulders as they crossed the parking lot into the market.

"Yeah? Who's cooking? Are we gonna take it back to Grandma's?"

"Har har. I can cook. I made tacos the other night didn't I?"

"Yeah, and everybody ate the Evil Queen's lasagna instead."

"Keep it up buddy," Emma warned as she pulled a cart out of the line. "Just remember who has the power to ground you now."

"I'm really scared."

"You should be. I have keys to jail cells and I'm not afraid to use them."

Henry laughed and put his hand on the corner of the bar as she pushed it towards the aisles of food.

"What kind of food does your mom usually buy?"

"The usual kind I guess," he shrugged.

"Like milk, eggs?"

Henry nodded.

"We'll start at one end and stock up as we go," she decided with more confidence than she felt.

The truth was she _could_ cook she just usually didn't. Just like she _could _shop and just usually didn't. What was the point of cooking for one? And Mary Margaret had done nearly all of the cooking and shopping in the year that she'd lived with her so Emma felt out of practice.

They wandered up and down the aisles, grabbing various necessities and continuing the easy banter they'd gotten so good at in New York. Emma steered away from boxed foods as much as possible but capitulated on potato chips and deemed cereal a basic food group.

"What vegetables do you like?"

Emma just stared at her son as though he'd turned into a dragon before her eyes.

"Hey," Henry said with a piercing look. "If I gotta eat 'em you gotta eat 'em. Who's the adult here?"

She was pretty sure it was her son, the sixty year old.

"Here, can't go wrong with salad." He threw a bag of mixed greens in the cart and a jar of dressing quickly followed.

"I like cucumbers," Emma offered, and a sack with three of the vegetables was added to their overflowing cart.

Henry put in a bunch of bananas and after sharing a look with Emma he added a bag full of honeycrisp apples. Emma didn't comment but she did ruffle his hair as she reached to spin the cart around.

The next thing she knew there was a loud clank that she felt all the way up to her shoulders as the cart smashed hard into another.

"Sorry I-

"I'm so sorry!"

Emma gaped at the familiar voice and didn't have to look to know Henry was doing the same. Regina Mills stood before them, with a bag of apples in each hand.

"H-hi." Emma knew she was gawking, she sincerely hoped that the woman with the dazzling smile standing before her would ignore it. She shook her head, trying to jump start her brain. "I'm sorry, I should've looked."

"No, it's my fault. I shouldn't have crowded in," the woman insisted in a voice that sounded like Regina's but with a deferential tone Emma had never heard her use. She smiled again, another brilliant one that short-circuited Emma's brain and caused her to gawk dumbly once more. The smile faltered a bit when Emma's failure to respond lasted long enough to grow awkward.

"I'm Elena," She said, sticking out a hand, "Elena Quijano."

"Re- Right," Emma fumbled for the proper response, but managed to grasp the offered hand. "I'm Emma…and this is my son, Henry."

Recognition flared in Elena's eyes and Emma wondered if their names could possibly break the enchantment.

"Emma and Henry Swan?"

Of course it couldn't.

Emma nodded, and felt Henry round the cart to stand at her side. She tucked him under her arm –to support him, she told herself, though it felt like a fib.

"Your sister, Mary Margaret, and her husband stopped by my place this morning," Elena told them. "They said Henry was interested in riding lessons?"

"Oh! Right," Emma's mind whirled; she felt like she was expected to follow a script she'd never seen before. "Yeah, they said they'd talked to you. Sorry, David said equestrian I was expecting…"

She trailed off, certain she'd jammed her foot in her mouth and she wasn't sure how to get it back out.

"A snooty aristocrat with a jock-complex and jodphurs," Elena finished for her with a knowing smirk. "I'm familiar with the type. Sorry to disappoint." She gestured to her faded jeans and scuffed cowboy boots.

"No! That's not it at all," Emma recovered. "He just, um, said your name was Elena LaVerne?"

"Oh, right. Well, the short of the long, sordid, story is since retiring from the circuit I've started using my father's surname again but I've found it helps to drop my professional name with potential clients. You know how it is."

"Sounds like having multiple personalities. Must be a good story though."

The smile became self-deprecating and Emma marveled at how open this Regina's face was.

"Mm, definitely like having multiple personalities," Elena agreed. "And it's a dramatic one anyway."

She quickly turned her focus to Henry. "In any case, I'm thrilled you're interested in riding. I told David you're welcome to stop by any time to see Apollo. I mean that."

"Thanks," Henry replied softly. "Maybe I can stop by after school tomorrow?"

"Absolutely, as long as that's okay with your mom."

Emma had to swallow an incredulous scoff at the irony of that statement.

"Sure," she said. "We'll call as soon as my shift at the station ends."

"Don't bother," Elena waved one apple bag absently. "I'll probably be out in the barn, just holler. I'm glad I bumped into you, I'm afraid I've been a bit of a recluse since arriving here. It was so nice of your sister and brother-in-law to drop by and introduce themselves."

"Yeah, it's nice to put a face to the name. We'll let you go before your ice cream starts to melt. See you tomorrow."

"I look forward to it," Elena flashed one last smile and waved as she set the bags in her cart and maneuvered it around theirs.

Emma squeezed Henry's shoulders and wheeled their own cart away from the produce section towards the checkout line. He followed her silently but she knew an eruption of questions and astute chatter must be boiling up in him. She just wanted to get out to the car before he hit critical mass. Luckily their cashier wasn't inclined for small talk and moved them through the process quickly despite their massive amount of purchases.

When Henry was silent even after they'd loaded the groceries into the trunk and left the parking lot Emma began to search for something to say.

"I guess the 'finding her' part was easier than we thought it would be huh?" She asked finally.

Henry's shoulders heaved with the deep breath he took before answering.

"Yeah."

"Yeah? We found your mom already and all I get is a –_hfff_- yeah?"

"I just –I thought we'd have more time to figure out how to break a fairy blessing before we found her," Henry said, his face screwed up with consternation as he tried to find the words to articulate what he was feeling. "She's so different."

Emma nodded. She had been expecting a watered down version of the mayor she'd met when she first came to Storybrooke. In fact, the snooty blueblood in a riding habit Elena had described wasn't far off from what Emma had pictured when she'd got the first sneaking suspicion that David's horse trainer was Regina 2.0. She wasn't prepared for Elena Quijano and her gregarious cowgirl charm.

"No kidding."

"She doesn't remember me."

"No, that would have been part of the spell."

"I just thought…I dunno, that maybe she'd see me and know who I was, or there would be a connection –like with you and Mary Margaret."

Emma sucked in a breath and blew it out slowly as she contemplated how to respond to that.

"You never know, maybe she did –she seemed pretty excited that you're starting lessons. It took some time for me and Mary Margaret to really get comfortable with each other."

"I didn't think I'd have to get to know the new her," Henry admitted. "I thought we'd just find her and turn her back."

"You don't have to go tomorrow," Emma told him gently. "You don't even have to take lessons if you don't want to."

Henry bit his lip and gazed out the window intently but Emma was sure he wasn't even seeing the passing buildings he seemed to be studying so intently. She let him think in peace, knowing that he wouldn't hesitate to speak once he'd figured out what he wanted to say. When they parked in front of their building and she'd shut down the engine he finally answered.

"No, I want to go. This is going to take more time than I thought, but I don't want to avoid her. Maybe spending time with her will help her remember."

"I think that's a good choice kid," Emma said. "And even if she doesn't, when we do break the spell she'll remember how hard you were trying and that will mean the world to her."

Henry nodded solemnly.

"How are we going to break the spell? Do you think maybe if I kissed her?"

"Well, I'd like to talk to the Blue Fairy first, but that's probably not a bad idea," Emma said as she got out of the car. "Of course, if it doesn't work we'll have to explain to your riding coach why you're so affectionate. I wonder if it's possible to file a harassment suit against an eleven-year-old in Maine?"

The comment went right over Henry's head.

"You're going to talk to the Blue Fairy about magic?"

"I can't think of anyone else to talk to about it," Emma shrugged.

"Cool! Can I come?"

"Ah, no. I'm going to stop by while I'm out on patrol and you have school tomorrow. I don't want Principal McGonagall on my tail because you were truant."

"Hubbard, her name is Principal Hubbard."

"Not the point kid."

"You never let me do fun things anymore."

_That_ earned him a droll stare, which he tried to reflect back at her but his lips kept twitching upward.

"Well, as long as I'm gunning for World's Meanest Mom get those groceries inside."

"Seriously!?"

"They're not gonna walk themselves up four flights of stairs are they?"

"There are laws against this type of thing," Henry grumbled as he went to the trunk to retrieve the bags.

"Lucky for me the sheriff in this town is grossly under qualified, and the rest of the citizens are used to a much simpler legal structure; so I think I get a free pass on this one."

"That is not how heroes behave," Henry told her sternly.

"Yeah well, _I_ have never actually claimed to be a hero," Emma pointed out. In fact, it hadn't been all that long ago that she'd rejected the idea rather hysterically.

"You're my hero," Henry replied simply, turning wide green eyes on her full force.

Emma helped him bring the groceries in. _Not _that she hadn't actually intended to in the first place.

* * *

_Thanks for reading! Sorry for the wait on this chapter, it turned into a monster. _


	5. Blessed

**Blessed **

"Emma! We're gonna be late! Up and at 'em!"

When incoherent grumbling and rustling sheets reached his ears Henry resumed pouring his bowl of Fruity Pebbles. Once upon a time he had woken up every morning to the smell of food and the sound of Breakfast with Bach playing on the radio in the kitchen. Even when he'd stayed with David his grandfather had gently woken him up for school each morning. Clearly those days were over. He'd known Emma liked to sleep in from their trip to Manhattan, but nothing had prepared him to be woken up by the sound of her alarm clock going off and then being put on snooze; every five minutes a rock song would blare only to be silenced with a slap and the process would start over again. _Eight times. _

Emma didn't mind that he turned on the TV in the morning though, so he found a channel with cartoons and sat down on the couch to eat his breakfast, something he'd never been allowed to do before. By the time Bugs Bunny had foiled Yosemite Sam four times the shower had turned off. He fished the last soggy bits of cereal out of the now pink milk in his bowl and drank the rest straight from the dish (something Regina had always scolded him for) before putting it in the sink. It was 8:37, first bell was at 8:50.

"Emma?"

A loud clatter, then a thump erupted from the bedroom followed by muffled speech that sounded an awful like cussing. Emma stumbled out of the doorway seconds later, trying to zip up her boot as she walked.

"Ready to go kid?"

Henry rolled his eyes but smiled, "All set."

"Okay."

They each grabbed their coats and scarves off hooks near the main door, unconsciously mirroring one another as they shrugged into the warm layers then made their way down to the bug.

"You've got your key?"

"Yep," Henry said. He pulled a brand new paracord keychain from his pocket and waved it as proof.

"Good and you're taking the bus home?"

Henry nodded again. "Yep. You're talking to the Blue Fairy about Mom today right?"

"Yeah, so I may not be home right when you are but I'll hurry as fast as I can and we'll head over to the stables."

"Okay."

The drive from their apartment to the school was a short one, much shorter than the one from his old house. He could have walked, or caught the bus on its stop in front of the diner, but Emma insisted on taking him on her way to work. Mothers were strange people.

"Gotta fly, I'll be late." Henry was practically out the door before the car stopped in front of the school.

"Sorry kid, I'll be better tomorrow," Emma called after him.

"It's okay, Monday's are rough," he tossed over his shoulder with a little grin so she knew she was out of the dog house.

Emma watched him until he disappeared through the doors, then threw the bug into gear and pulled out into traffic, doubling back towards Granny's on a mission for caffeine. Normal Mondays were rough. The first Monday back at work after a long absence was an absolute bitch. And it didn't help that the first item on her agenda was to start figuring out exactly what magically assisted upheavals had occurred while she was away. She walked into the diner contemplating whether or not she could get away with asking Ruby to Irish up her morning latte.

* * *

David was sitting in the deputy's chair when she sauntered into the station.

"'Morning," he said.

"Hey," she waved her coffee at him. "Sorry, I didn't think you'd be in already."

She dropped into the seat in front of the desk, then leaned up to pull her gun and badge off because they dug into her thigh. She set them both on the desk and then slouched back into her chair.

"It's fine." David picked up his own large cup from Granny's. "Your mom and I stopped on our way."

"Right." Emma took a sip of her drink to avoid having to comment further. She liked David okay but she wasn't sure how to interact with him and she definitely wasn't used to thinking of him as her father.

"So," she stared at her coffee as if she was conversing with it instead of the man sitting across from her who had her nose and hair, "How has it been here?"

"Honestly? Quieter without Rumplestiltskin running around causing trouble and since King George disappeared people have been fairly content to lay low and keep things like they were before the curse broke."

The eye of the storm; she wondered how long they had till it passed and chaos descended again. Although, without Regina around she didn't think any mobs would form, but she was certain all the anger over being stuck here would inevitably boil up in other ways.

"I met your stable owner yesterday by the way," she said to break the awkward lull in conversation. "Henry and I ran into her at the grocery store. You might have mentioned our cover story 'bro'."

"Sorry." David had the grace to look sheepish. "Snow and I thought that would be the easiest way to explain our relationship given the circumstances."

"It turned out alright; would have been nice to have a heads up though."

"We were going to tell you. We've been going by David and Mary Margaret Blanchard. If Snow's your sister then that explains the different last names."

"Clever," Emma quipped, mildly surprised that much thought had gone into their cover story.

"Everyone has been mixing and matching households and names. There are so many reunited families and couples keeping track of everybody is a full time job in and of itself."

"Your mother's been shuffling around things a bit too," he continued casually. "There's plenty of room in the budget, I kind of assumed you'd keep me on as deputy?"

"Yeah, definitely."

Uncomfortable as she was about their familial relationship, she knew David was a good man and she did trust him, which was more than she could say for most of the rest of the citizens in town. And he had kept the place together during her long absences. Keeping him on seemed like a no brainer, especially now that she had Henry full time –she'd have to split the shifts with someone or she'd never be able to be home with him.

"We can add another person or two later if we need," she said. "Glad I have you on board. Thanks for…everything."

"Don't mention it. We do what we have to. It's almost harder to adjust now that things have settled down," David admitted.

Emma spun her badge on the desk and told herself not to touch that comment with a ten foot pole. But…enh, why the hell not?

"Is that why you want to go back?"

"Partly," he admitted, but he sounded uncertain. "Everything was simpler there. I knew who I was; what I needed to do."

"You'd trade a little certainty for indoor plumbing?"

"It wasn't that bad! Not at the palace anyway; it had pumps and aqueducts. I grew up on a farm remember, in a two room cottage. _That_ was rough living."

"Uh huh, and you had to walk five miles to school, uphill both ways in the snow, barefoot."

"Well, except for the school part that's actually not too far off." David scratched his jaw.

"And you _want_ to go back there?" Emma asked incredulously.

He grinned self-deprecatingly and shifted in his seat; adopting her relaxed pose he tapped a pencil against the desk as he considered his words.

"I want to be wherever my family is," he said finally. "And your mother says we're staying here, so I'll just have to get used to it I guess."

"You and me both," Emma murmured raising her coffee to him and then chugging it.

"Well, I appreciate the bonding time but one of use should probably get some work done. The new mayor might be more pleasant to work with but…"

"You do not want to get on her bad side," David finished.

"I'll go out on patrol for a couple hours. You do…whatever it is you do or head home."

"Put me on call for tonight. We'll trade until we work something else out. Snow and I are happy to take Henry if you ever need."

She gave him a grateful smile, retrieved her coat and made her exit, intent on stopping by the hardware store to buy a padlock for the Mills crypt and patrolling for a few hours before she dropped in on The Blue Fairy.

* * *

Emma hadn't had the occasion to visit the convent before. It was not at all what she had envisioned but she supposed a gothic fortress with iron gates and gargoyles would be kind of out of place in Storybrooke. Still, the building seemed even less suited to fairies than it did to nuns.

Unfamiliar with the custom of announcing one's presence at fairy cloister, Emma rang the bell and jammed her hands into her back pockets. It only took a few seconds for the door to swing open.

"Sister Astrid," Emma recognized Leroy's "girlfriend."

"Just Astrid now," the fairy woman informed her with a smile. "What can I do for you Savior?"

Emma blanched at the title. When had they started calling her that? "You can call me Emma for one thing. I'm actually here to see the Blue Fairy if she's available?"

"Of course, won't you come in?"

Emma didn't really want to but it was dumb to wait outside in the cold and she didn't want to have this conversation on the porch anyway.

"One moment, I'll fetch her."

Emma waited, feeling more awkward by the second. The inside of the convent was drab except for a few vases of flowers that she assumed came from Game of Thorns. It looked as though the fairies hadn't done much to transition back into their old lives. Crosses still hung on the walls at even intervals, and tall candelabras stood at the far end of the hall, the flickering light from their candles casted interesting shadows, even in the daylight. It made Emma wonder how different the lives of fairies and nuns had been to begin with.

"Savior Swan," The Blue Fairy's voice prevented her from dwelling on it.

"Sheriff Swan, if you must," Emma corrected stiffly as she turned to face the woman standing in a doorway to Emma's right.

"Certainly Sheriff, what can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if I could talk privately with you. Just for a few minutes."

"Of course, anything for you and your family; you know that."

Where had that attitude been when she'd told her parents only one could go through the wardrobe and sent her to this world with a seven-year-old puppet.

"What was it you wanted to talk about?" The Blue Fairy asked when she'd led Emma into her office and shut the door. She sat down stiffly behind a large maple desk and folded her hands primly on top of the ink blotter.

Emma leaned forward in her chair and leaned her elbows on the desk. "What can you tell me about Damnatio Memoriae?"

"Damnatio Memori-uh," the fairy corrected out of habit. She pulled away from the desk and away from Emma. "Did Rumplestiltskin tell you of it?"

"Not exactly."

When it was apparent that Emma wasn't going to be any more forthcoming about where she'd heard of the spell the Blue Fairy went on.

"It's a fairy blessing, meant to give those who wish for it a chance to start with a clean slate."

"Like a magical pardon?"

"Of sorts," the fairy conceded. "However, it's much more thorough than a simple matter of forgiveness –magical or otherwise. It's meant to give someone a new life, free from the afflictions of the old one."

"So…basically what –Rumplestiltskin- did to all of you?"

"Rumplestiltskin cursed us." Again it was a correction. "The dark curse caused us to forget who we were in order to take away our happy endings and banish us to live as something other than our true selves."

"And that's not how Damnatio Memoriae works?"

"Not at all, the blessing gives one a chance to live as they might have been."

Emma failed to see how that was a distinction.

"Might have been if what? Why would you give someone the blessing?"

"One must wish for the blessing. Sometimes it's a wish to forget past horrors or other times it's given to the truly penitent in order to forgive their misdeeds and grant real redemption."

Regina may have fallen into the latter category. But why would she wish to forget herself when she'd been trying so hard –and succeeding- to win back Henry's love?

"Can someone be forced to wish for it?"

"Of course not, a wish must be made of free will."

Another vague distinction.

"So, _hypothetically_, they wish for a new life and everyone else just forgets they ever existed? Like my parents forgot they knew one another after the curse?"

"It's more complicated than that," the Blue Fairy insisted. She seemed agitated and stood up to pace near the window as she answered. "Rumplestiltskin wrote each of our new identities as part of his curse. The blessing isn't controlled by anyone's will, it takes the life of the blessed and reweaves it into the world; rewriting the past to rewrite the future."

"Can it be reversed? Is there some sort of cosmic undo button that can save to a backup?"

"Emma, are you suggesting that Damnatio Memoriae has been granted?"

"Wouldn't you know?" This was the first of the fairy's answers that had really surprised her.

Blue shook her head. "In the old world there were ways to keep records of such things; they were stored in lands apart. But I know of no places like that here. Emma, how do you know of this blessing?"

"You granted it." Emma stood up and faced the fairy once more. "You gave it to someone here and I need to know how to undo it. I need her back."

The Blue Fairy looked helpless to reply and Emma was glad someone else finally felt like they were expected to know things they couldn't.

"I'm sorry, I know of no way to undo such a spell."

If she was lying, she was the best damn actress Emma had ever seen, but Emma would have preferred that she was.

"Not even true love's kiss?"

The Blue Fairy shrugged sadly. "If one loves someone affected by the blessing can they truly love the person they are?"

"Lady, you've been spouting philosophy at me for the last ten minutes, I need a straight answer."

"No, the spell cannot be undone by true love's kiss."

"Why not?"

"If one cannot remember who one truly is they cannot truly love. It is the price of the blessing."

Magic always has a price. How many times had Regina tried to tell her that now?

"But if it's meant to allow someone to be who they might have been then why do they need to remember who they were to truly love?"

"True love has to go both ways. If someone can't know who you were, they can't know who you are."

"But if they _did_ know who you were?"

"I won't say it's impossible Sheriff," Blue replied with her annoying air of boundless patience,  
"With powerful magic few things are. But I cannot give you a definite answer. These things aren't as cut and dried as the storybooks make them seem."

"They never are," Emma growled, and then asked, because she had to have something to tell Henry: "My kiss broke the spell on Henry. Could someone's child reverse the blessing?"

"The laws governing such things aren't clear; they've never been written. Curses are made to be broken Emma, they come littered with caveats. That's why Rumplestiltskin's magic is so fickle, and so often results in unexpected consequences. Blessings are meant as a mercy, if they could be undone, or taken back they wouldn't be a gift."

"I see," Emma said. She ground her teeth in frustration but couldn't think of any other questions to ask, or even a condemnation to give. "Well, thank you for your time. I'll let you know if I have any further questions."

"Emma," the fairy's voice stopped her in the doorway. "Who is it that you think I've so wrongly blessed?"

Emma almost answered.

"You're not meant to remember," she said, and stalked out, brushing passed Astrid -who was cleaning the windows in the entry- without so much as an "excuse me."

* * *

"Emma?" Henry hollered as he let himself into the apartment.

"Hey kid," Emma said from the couch where she'd been sitting with Regina's letter, reading it over and over again as if the words would rearrange themselves and reveal the loophole in Regina's enchantment.

"Hi," he bounded over. "How did patrol go? Did you talk to the Blue Fairy? What did she say?"

"I talked to her, but you're not gonna like what she said."

"Why not? Wouldn't she tell you how to break the spell? She has to tell us! She's the good fairy!"

Emma sighed and shook her head balefully.

"She didn't know Henry. She can't remember casting the spell at all and she doesn't know how to break it."

"Well what about true love's kiss? That's strong enough to break any curse."

"The spell she put on your mom wasn't a curse though, it's not supposed to have a way to undo it like curses do."

"But true love is the most powerful magic of all!"

"And we'll try it Henry. We will. It's complicated but we'll try," she promised.

"It's not complicated," Henry insisted. "I love her, she's my mom and I love her."

"I know you do. But The Blue Fairy said the price of the blessing is that it messes up true love."

"Because she can't remember me?"

"That's part of it. But the spell, the blessing, made her someone new. You have to love the new person too."

"Oh," Henry said dejectedly. "So I do have to get to know her?"

"I thought you decided to do that anyway?"

His face screwed up in sheepish discomfort.

"Yeah, but just until I could kiss her and bring her back."

"Has anything ever been that easy?" She asked frankly.

"No, I guess not," he sulked.

"So are we going to go over to the stables or not?"

"Yes."

"Let's get going then, huh? We're burning daylight."

* * *

"Wow," Henry said as they pulled to a stop outside Stablebrooke's barn.

"Impressed?"

"It's different," Henry replied. "I guess the spell changed that too?"

"Who knows, maybe the old barns got knocked down in the 'storm'."

"Do you think there was really a storm?"

"I think it was probably called hurricane Cora," Emma said drily.

Gravel crunched beneath their feet as they walked down to the open doorway that was big enough to get a tractor or horse trailer through. The paint had been sanded away and the majority of the walls had been replaced with noticeably newer boards.

"It was white," Henry told Emma as they went through, he ran his fingers over the smooth wood, "and everything was really old and it was kinda smelled bad."

"I wonder how much of this was magic and how much was just your mom," she said because it did smell surprisingly good for a barn; like hay, leather and clean dirt rather than manure.

Several horses stuck their heads out of their stalls as they passed and disgruntled nickers echoed out of a few more.

"Hi, Apollo." Henry confidently walked up to one of the horses and scratched its forehead.

Emma stuck her hands in her pockets and kept one eye on Henry as she continued to look around the barn. The section they stood in held twenty stalls and most of them appeared to have an occupant. Henry's horse was in the last stall before the corridor intersected with another and she rounded the corner to explore more. On one side wood planks butted up against the cement walkway to form a floor for the tack space. Saddles, harnesses, bridles and other equipment occupied most of the area on neat shelves and hooks that bore Regina's obsession with order. The other side had massive sliding doors which were open just enough for Emma to glimpse the haystack behind them.

The wall behind Henry's horse's stall held a tall glass case full of trophies and pictures. Emma wandered down to it to get a better look and was shocked to see Regina in several of them, standing next to a sorrel horse that dwarfed her. A few had evidently been taken in the winner's circle, as she held a bouquet of roses and the horse was draped in wreaths. She looked at the trophies and saw 'Elena Q. LaVerne' engraved on the base of all of them. The blessing _had_ been thorough.

"Kind of pretentious isn't it?" The voice startled her and Emma spun to see Elena striding towards her in jeans, gum boots, and a denim jacket covered in hay.

"Good advertising anyway," she managed to get the words out smoothly. "A lot of these are for first place."

"I had a first place horse," Elena demurred. She opened the door at the end of the trophy case and dropped her jacket and work gloves inside, then joined Emma in front of the case. She pointed to a picture of the sorrel stallion, "Rocinante."

"He's huge."

"He was," Elena conceded with a laugh. "Seventeen hands, head and shoulders above the rest."

"Do you still have him?" Emma looked around the barn, trying to spot the horse.

"No," Elena said, her expression was unreadable but her eyes echoed the sadness that Emma recognized. She'd seen it in Regina's and she'd seen it too often in the mirror. "A champion horse deserves a champion rider."

"And you're not?" Emma looked skeptically back to the trophy case.

Elena shook her head. "It's a long story."

"Maybe you'll tell me sometime," the words fell out before Emma was even aware of thinking them.

"Perhaps," Elena's lips quirked up into a slight smile. "I see Henry's found his horse. David said he'd grown pretty attached but hadn't been able to ride."

"Yeah, life got a little crazy." _That_ was the understatement of the year. "He's excited to start lessons next week."

"He's not the only one," Elena informed her. "I put up fliers at the diner and on the board at City Hall on Friday and I've already gotten about fifty phone calls. There will be about a dozen kids Henry's age starting with him on Monday."

"A _dozen_? How many horses do you have?"

"Fourteen that are ready to ride, plus one mare that is just about ready to have her baby."

"Almost sixteen horses, and a major renovation," Emma gestured to the barn. "That's quite an undertaking for one person."

"Almost seventeen actually. And it does seem a little crazy when you put in like that doesn't it?" Elena asked cheerfully. She shook her head again, looking around the barn. "I don't know, I was looking for a fresh start and this popped up almost immediately. It was so serendipitous; it was like it's meant to be."

Emma cracked a wan smile in response. She wasn't sure what to say since '_Your fresh start was actually fairy magic, you were once an evil queen in a fairy tale land and the boy around the corner is your adopted son and I'm his birth mother'_ was out.

"Well, you came all the way out here, would you like the nickel tour?" Elena asked as she and Emma wandered back over to where Henry was petting Apollo.

"Yeah!" "If it's not too much trouble," they answered at once.

"Henry, there's a feed bag full of apple slices around the corner, why don't you go get some and grab a lead halter. Apollo can walk with us."

"Really? Thanks!" He scrambled to follow her instructions. Emma smiled at his exuberance. Worry that she was setting Henry up for more heartache had been weighing on her since her conversation with the Blue Fairy. She knew he'd been anxious about this meeting. Elena couldn't have circumvented his agitation more quickly if she'd tried. When he returned the pockets of his jeans were bulging with treats and he held a long blue rope which he was trying not to tangle.

"This?" He held the rope up for Elena's approval.

"Perfect. Do you know how to put it on?"

Henry shook his head.

"I'll show you, come on."

Emma stood back and watched as Elena led Henry into Apollo's stall. The Blue Fairy had said the blessing allowed for people to live as they might have been. She wondered what could have gone differently in Regina's life to let her be this person. The woman before her was the polar opposite of the one she had met the night of her twenty-eighth birthday. This Regina seemed years younger and far more accessible. She treated Henry like an old friend as she showed him how to hold the halter and approach the horse; without a hint of the domineering need for control that had tainted every interaction Emma had witnessed between them prior to breaking the curse.

"Put your hand behind his ears and squeeze his neck a little," Elena directed the boy. "Tell him to bring his head down."

Henry had to stretch a little to reach the right spot.

"Hey, it worked!" He crowed when Apollo promptly lowered his head to a more accessible level for the eleven-year-old.

Elena smiled indulgently at him. "Perfect Henry, now slip the halter loop over his nose."

If Regina had been this relaxed and patient with her son when Emma had first arrived in Storybrooke would she have stayed? If she was honest with herself she knew she would have taken one look at the little happy family and assumed there was no place for her in it. She would have run, as fast and as far away as she could until Henry had no hope of finding her again. And she would have told herself it was better that way.

"Look Emma I did it," Henry chirped, pointing to the knotted halter around the horse's head.

"Great job kid," she said with a grin, but his attention was already back on the brunette and Emma wondered if Regina had felt this way every time Henry had ignored her to hang onto Emma's every word.

"Have you taken him out before?" Elena asked Henry.

"No, David only showed me how to groom him."

"Well don't worry, there's nothing to it. Horses are usually trained to lead from the left, so if you stand about right here," she placed her hands on his shoulders and nudged him into place, "And put your right hand on the rope like this he'll walk with you pretty much anywhere."

She looped up the slack and handed it to Henry in a bunch.

"Don't hold it through the loop," she told him. "Hold it right in the middle of the figure eight so if he spooks and runs the rope can't tighten and drag you with him."

"Uh, does that happen a lot?" Emma asked, worry flaring.

"Rarely," Elena assured her. "Mr. Gordon told me all of his horses are suitable for beginners and I've worked with them all enough now to trust them with children. But horses tend to flee when they're frightened so it's best to be cautious."

Henry nodded, remembering how Apollo had run when FrankenDaniel had come to the stable. He shivered at the memory and shook it from his mind, eager to replace his last experience at the stables with better one.

"Shall we?" Elena gestured to the doorway and stepped out to supervise as Henry led the horse out. "That's perfect Henry, you're a natural."

She fell into step with Henry and Emma walked on her other side down the broad thoroughfare. Apollo's hooves clacked loudly against the cement tile as they went.

"Well, this is of course the main barn," Elena began, gesturing as they passed the trophy case and the door to her office. "It's basically finished except for paint, because I haven't decided exactly what to do with that yet."

They passed the equipment area, heading for the large door at the end of the walkway. Elena slid it open and they stepped out into the sunlight.

"This is the arena." She pointed to a large fenced in circle of freshly groomed dirt. "You'll be getting pretty familiar with it, that's where we'll have lessons."

Beyond it was an expanse of pasture that continued several acres and ended in a fence that separated it from the highway.

"When it starts to warm up more and is less muddy I'll turn most of the horses out, and you'll have to catch them but you'll have it easy these first few weeks," Elena told Henry, who grinned and gave Apollo a pat.

"You won't give me any trouble, will ya boy?" He dug for a slice and offered it to the horse. Apollo waffled and snatched it from his palm.

"Did you buy all the horses with the farm?" Emma asked.

"Most of them," Elena replied. "I brought two with me, including the pregnant mare."

"One's gonna have a baby?" Henry asked eagerly.

"Indeed," Elena smiled. She led them over to an area on the other side of the barn that been cleared of gravel. Twelve telephone poles had been erected to form a rectangle just larger than the arena. "It will eventually be an indoor arena but construction on it won't really begin until fall. And that's if I can make this place start turning out some revenue."

"I don't mean to sound like a Debbie Downer, but just how much are you planning to make on lessons around here?" Emma asked. Storybrooke wasn't that big and she doubted most of the residents could afford the lessons if they were very expensive.

"Not a fortune," Elena admitted. "I do have some ambitious plans though for mare boarding. You'd be surprised what people will pay to have their show horses born under the supervision of a vet. Eventually I'd like to start a full breeding program as well, but that's a work in progress too.

"Sure, you've got to find a vet willing to move to the middle of nowhere," Emma quipped. How likely were people to be willing to trust their baby champions with a vet who'd been certified by a curse…

"Well, I have my degree if it comes to that," Elena answered drily, tapping the side of her nose.

…Or a blessing?

"You do?" Henry asked.

Elena nodded. "It comes in handy now and again."

Henry caught Emma's eye behind the brunette's back and she knew he was wondering how many more layers of memories the blessed Regina would reveal. Emma wanted to know how much of the improvements to the ranch had actually been made by Elena and what parts the blessing was responsible for –or had the Gordon's started all of this before leaving and the blessing had simply given Elena memories to fill in the blanks. If Henry's kiss was able to restore Regina's awareness of herself would it all disappear?

"Don't let him get ahead of you Henry," Elena's reminder to Henry snapped Emma back to the present. She looked to her son to see him straighten and correct his pace to match Apollo's. "You can slow him if you'd like but you need to give him a signal. He'll learn to watch you but it will take some practice on both your parts."

"This is my other labor of love," she continued when they stopped in front of another fenced paddock. "I'm putting in a small cross country course here."

"Cross country?" Emma had brought in a bookie on a bond once when she'd lived in Chicago but beyond races she wasn't familiar with horse events.

"You know, with fences and water obstacles?"

"I've seen that on the Olympics," Henry said in awe. "You can do that? It's so cool! Can you teach me? That would be like real knight lessons!"

"We'll see," Elena replied warmly. "We've got to get you on a horse before we can think about adding obstacles."

They continued to walk around the property to give Henry a little more time with Apollo, chatting amiably about Elena's plans for the ranch and her work as a trainer. The sky was just beginning to fade to twilight when they finally returned to the main barn.

"Can I put him away?" Henry asked.

"Certainly, just put the halter back where you found it. He'd probably like a few more treats, if you're willing."

"Okay!" Henry said brightly strutted through the barn door with the horse at his side.

"I think you've created a monster," Emma said. She and Elena stood in the doorway and watched Henry. "A few more trips out here and he's not going to want to come home with me."

"Don't worry about it. I'll put him to work mucking stalls. He'll change his mind before you can say 'horse pucky'."

A surprised laugh burst from Emma. Never, in a million years, would she have ever thought she'd here those two words come out of Regina's mouth.

"I dunno, he's a weird kid," Emma said affectionately. "He'd probably like it –and it would only encourage the idea he has that Apollo is his horse."

"Well, a knight has to bond with his steed."

"Ugh, keep talking like that and between you and David the next thing I know he'll be clanking around the apartment in armor."

"I'll try to contain myself," Elena said with a cheeky grin. Her tone was reminiscent of Regina's sass but Emma had never seen her brandy brown eyes glitter with such mirth. It made her wonder again if Regina had ever truly been this way and if she had then what had caused her to change so drastically. She realized abruptly that it wasn't the horses she was really worried about disappearing if they undid the blessing on Regina, it was the light in her eyes and the warm humor Elena carried so comfortably. It was enchanting and Emma found herself all too willing to succumb to the spell.

"Do that," she fumbled for something to say. "Henry takes fairy tales very seriously."

"The whole down does," the boy in question appeared at Emma's elbow. "That's why it's called Storybrooke."

"Do you know I'd wondered," Elena said breezily. "Now I know."

"Now you do," Emma echoed softly. And then, awareness of the setting sun and of the purpose to their visit running out set in and jolted her from the sense of comfortable companionship she'd been basking in. "Well, Henry, I think we've just about managed to overstay our welcome we should get going."

Henry nodded reluctantly.

"Thanks for letting me take Apollo out Elena; it was fun to see your farm," he said politely.

"My pleasure Henry, you're welcome to visit anytime," Elena replied and then directed her gaze to Emma, "Both of you."

"We'll take you up on that," Emma said. "Thanks again."

She draped her arm around Henry and pulled him towards the bug. They both turned at the car and waved to Elena, who remained in the door of the barn. Emma watched her head inside in the rear view mirror as they drove down the gravel road towards the highway, the barn door slid shut behind her.

"I like her," Henry announced. "She's like my mom only happier. I don't think it will be hard to break the spell at all."

"I hope so kid," Emma said. _But when had anything ever been that easy?_

* * *

**_Thanks for reading! _**


	6. Complicated

**Complicated**

The following Monday was a slow one at the station. Emma had taken the day shift and spent most of it reading through David's lackluster reports to catch up on what had been going on in town while she was away. She wasn't sure if their brevity was a David thing or if it was a nothing-much-to-report thing. Either way it didn't take up enough time and so she found herself leaning back in her chair, shooting wadded up scrap paper at the garbage can across the room to occupy herself until she could clock off in time to take Henry to his riding lesson. Which was why, when the phone rang and startled her, she tipped the seat over as she scrambled to answer the device on the desk.

"Sheriff Swan speaking," she managed to answer professionally.

"Emma, I need you to come to the diner, we sort of have a situation," Ruby's voice sounded tinny and a little panicked over the line.

_Shit_, something _would _happen in the last hour of her shift.

"A _sort of _situation? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just get over here."

Granny's was only around the block but Emma took the cruiser just in case. She double parked in front of the diner and burst through the door, not sure whether to expect a robbery or a drunken dwarf strip teasing while singing "_Sixteen Tons_." Again.

She was not prepared to find the diner's solitary patron pointing her towards the back room. She crept around the doorway and found Ruby calmly washing dishes while Granny stood near the back door with her cross bow trained down the hallway.

"Whoa! _What_ is going on?" Emma demanded, striding up to Granny's side in order to see who she was aiming at.

"I want you to arrest this moronic muckraker right now Sheriff," Granny replied.

The man cowering in front of the freezer lifted his face out of trembling hands and Emma realized who it was.

"Granny, put that down. Mr. Mendel, you can stand up, no one is going to shoot you."

"Yet anyway," Granny mumbled but she lowered the cross bow.

"You wanna tell me what's going on here?"

"We caught this nincompoop trespassing –in broad daylight I might add- and taking photos of God knows what and I want you to arrest him."

Emma looked at the pathetic creature in the corner and then back to Granny but the older woman just stared resolutely back at her with a set jaw and a twitchy trigger finger.

"Mr. Mendel," she sighed as she approached him, pulling her cuffs from the holder on her belt as she went. "I'm afraid you're under arrest."

"Are you kidding me?" He protested but didn't resist when Emma snapped the shackles on his wrists –in front, there was no need to go all _Law & Order_ on him. "This is a violation of my constitutional rights. She's only doing this because she knows I've found a story here. The Fifth Estate-

"Mr. Mendel, you have a right to remain silent…" Emma rambled out his rights as she directed him out of the diner towards her parked cruiser.

Granny and Ruby followed them out and when Greg was tucked into the back seat Emma turned to them and spoke quietly.

"You know pressing charges and taking him to court isn't exactly keeping things on the down low? You're only gonna get a couple hundred in fines out of him _at the most_. I'm all for you feeling like you got justice for violation of your property and whatever but I'm not sure it's worth putting the limelight on Storybrooke right now. Especially if he did see something –what could he have seen?"

"I don't want to actually press charges," Granny assured her. "I just want him to hand over the pictures he took of my diner."

Emma crossed her arms and leaned back. "Why? Are you worried a health inspector might see them?"

"Emma Swan! You know I run a perfectly clean establishment! See if you get any more cocoa on the house."

"She's worried about me," Ruby interjected.

"I haven't gotten a new freezer door yet," Granny admitted soberly.

Emma stared at her blankly, waiting for a further explanation.

"I tried to ride out my first full moon in there," Ruby explained. "Turns out the warranty doesn't cover _werewolf_-" she whispered "-damage."

"The claw marks and a broken hinge are a little out of place. I don't want him finding out what caused them," Granny muttered, her knuckles white where they clutched her crossbow.

"Oh. So you _are_ worried someone might find out what you keep in cold storage," Emma smirked at Ruby. She had forgotten what Henry's book explained about Little Red Riding Hood and The Big Bad Wolf. "Any clue how he knew exactly where to look for trouble?"

They both shook their heads.

"I'll see what I can find out." She dropped her arms and backed towards her car. "I guess that explains why he was snooping around during business hours. I wouldn't want to get caught around here at night either."

"Em, I know what time of the month it is," Ruby said, "But I promise I've got it under control. You can ask David, he'll tell you."

"Oh, I wasn't worried about you, Rubes," Emma said as she rounded the hood and grabbed her door handle. "I'm more concerned about Quick Draw McGranny. Do you have a permit for that thing?"

"Sure Sheriff, come back when you have more time, I'll show you where you can put it."

"That's what I thought. Stay out of trouble you two. Have a nice run Ruby," she said loudly as she sank into the driver's seat.

"Thanks!"

"What were you talking about?" Greg asked as she pulled away from the curb.

"I needed their official statements."

"Didn't look very official."

"The Lucas's don't stand much on formality."

"How long have you known them?"

"As long as I've been in Storybrooke."

"And how long is that exactly?"

"Just over a year."

"And before that you lived…?"

"You got a lot of questions for someone who's in police custody," Emma said as she braked at Storybrooke's only stoplight and twisted in her seat to look at him directly.

Greg flinched. "I'm curious; it's in the job description. And don't think I don't know that I'm here on ridiculous charges."

"You were trespassing on private property, remember how I arrested you for that?" She turned back toward the road.

"It's a restaurant. I got lost on the way to the bathroom," Greg explained. "The doors weren't marked."

Emma glared at him in the rearview.

"So you were just documenting your adventure through the dangerous wilds of the backroom at Granny's? Shouldn't you have gone back to Pennsylvania by now?"

"I found a few reasons to stick around. Granny's back room is a very interesting place."

"I'm sure she'll be thrilled to hear you think so," Emma grumbled as she parked the car in front of the station. She got out and opened the door for Greg, who had slid over to her side. He unfolded himself from the car, hampered by his hobbled wrists.

"You're really going to do this?"

"Give it a break. I told Granny she should drop the charges but until she does I have to follow procedure."

"Just until she covers the evidence," he muttered. "You're not from around here then right? You don't think this town is just a little bit strange?"

"All small towns are strange," Emma quipped as they walked towards her office. "Isolation makes ya quirky."

"No, no; I cover strange towns for a living and I've never been anywhere weirder than Storybrooke. You know it's not even on a map? Nobody I've talked to has ever heard of it. It's like it just...blew in one day on the wind."

Emma twisted to give him a _what-the-hell_ look.

"And you found "evidence" of that in a restaurant stock room?"

Greg decided that was a good time to utilize his Miranda rights and clam up, which was fine by Emma who only bothered with chit chat to gain information. Since he wasn't being very forthcoming she'd just as soon he didn't run his mouth. He definitely knew something though, or at least thought he did. She couldn't say she was disappointed to have him confined to a cell in the station; at least for the duration of the full moon.

The booking process went quickly, especially since Emma had zero intention of completing all the paperwork if Granny was just going to drop the charges anyway. But it wouldn't hurt to have the guy's prints on file just in case he decided to be stealthier about his snooping in the future.

"You got anything in those pockets that'll hurt me?" She asked, as she patted down the subjects in question.

"No," he sighed. She couldn't feel anything out of the ordinary so she fished out his wallet and a pack of gum from his jeans, followed by his cellphone, a small notebook and pen from his tweed coat.

"Your new suite," she unlocked the left cell and gestured for Greg to step inside. When he had he turned and she took off his cuffs. "It's not the worst place to spend a night or two."

"Sure, I've had worse."

She popped open a locker to put his personal items inside but paused with his wallet. It hadn't been among the things she'd had time to look at during the chaos of his arrival in Storybrooke. She unfolded the black leather and hooked a finger under the clear plastic pocket to retrieve Greg's I.D.

She read two words and chucked the wallet in the locker and slammed the door shut with enough force to rock the top stack in its setting. Greg shrank back in his cell, eyes wide with surprise and fear as she stalked to the bars and brandished the little card at him.

"What the hell is this _Owen?" _

The man in the cell visibly gulped.

"You wanna explain why I've been operating under the assumption that your name is Greg Mendel?"

"Sure, sure, yeah," he stammered. "I use my penname. I write for a travel magazine, and it's easier to use the name people recognize when I'm following a story."

Emma searched his face for any hint of a lie in his explanation but his open expression betrayed only that she'd startled him. Even though her inner lie detector wasn't going off something about him was still telling her that Greg was going to continue to be a pain in her ass. As if her life wasn't complicated enough.

"And you didn't think that would be relevant to mention before now?"

"I didn't –I mean I wasn't really thinking. I'm sorry I just…I wasn't thinking."

David picked that moment to arrive and Emma's glower eased away, but not her determination to find out more about the man in her holding cell.

"Hey Emma, are you…" David trailed off as he spotted the occupied cell. "What's up?"

"Our friend here is not a very gracious guest," she answered with a shrug. She rounded her desk and pulled out an empty file to assemble the paperwork she hadn't actually planned to do. She tucked the prints she'd taken and his mug shots inside and then paper clipped the license to the file. "He's taken care of until we hear from Granny or someone posts his bail. I'll finish the file in the morning. Normal day otherwise."

"Fun filled and exciting times in your very own Storybrooke," David nodded casually, though she could see him watching Greg out of the corner of his eye. "You're off to the stables?"

"Yeah, I've got to go. Henry hates being late."

Emma tossed him the keys to the cruiser and then retrieved her own from her office. She dropped the file on her desk and pulled the locked door shut as she walked back out, shooting David a look that said she'd explain later.

"Have fun," David said.

"See ya," she hollered over her shoulder as she sauntered out, leaving David to chat with their new visitor.

The familiar thrill of a new chase made her want to jog out of the building and immediately start looking for information on Greg Mendel AND Owen Flynn. Screw being a fairy tale savior, _this_ was what she was good at, this she knew how to do. She took a deep breath a buried it though. Work would wait. Henry's riding lesson would not.

* * *

"Hey kid! Are you ready?" Emma yelled as she entered the apartment.

"I'm right here," Henry replied, clomping down the stairs in jeans and Doc Martins.

"Those are school shoes," she said, putting her hands on her hips and raising a skeptical eyebrow at him.

"Grandma said heeled shoes are the best for riding," Henry explained. "Have you called her back yet?"

"I texted her, yeah. Remind me we gotta get you some actual riding shoes."

"Okay. I can ask Elena if I need boots after class," he said as he reached for his pea coat.

"Hoodie!" Emma corrected him, pointing to the thick blue one on the hook next to the coat and almost twitching at the thought of having to figure out how to wash the latter. She had definitely not anticipated how much laundry the kid would go through until he started living with her full time. Henry turned and gave her a glare worthy of his other mother.

"I like this one," he protested.

"You'll have to unbutton it to climb on your horse."

Who'd have thought a year ago that she'd ever have an argument with her son about his choice of wardrobe? Hell, a week ago when they were buying him new clothes she had thought she'd have nothing to worry about in that department. Henry dressed better than she did. Then again that was the problem.

"Fine," Henry mumbled and pulled his red hoodie of the next hook. "I don't see what the big deal with looking nice is."

"You're going horseback riding, kid; I think wearing stuff that's easy to wash is required."

"Whatever, let's go."

Emma rolled her eyes and followed him out.

Henry chattered excitedly on the drive out to Stablebrooke and Emma was grateful, not for the first time, that though he'd inherited both his mothers' temper and tendency towards stubbornness he seemed to let go of things and bounce back to his usual positive attitude without a hitch.

When they arrived Henry was out of the door before Emma put the parking brake on.

"Hi Henry!" Ava Tilman called from where she stood with her brother and father in front of the entrance.

"Hi," Henry replied as he joined them.

Emma traded greetings with Michael whom she'd only seen in passing since convincing him to claim custody of his kids. An arrangement that had apparently worked out well even before the curse broke and they remembered that they had always been a family.

Henry and the twins led the way into the barn and Emma suppressed a grin as she heard her son humble-brag about his visit the previous week and how he'd already led his horse around the farm and seen the arena where their lessons would take place. He still didn't really have friends from school and she hoped things would settle down now enough that that could change.

"Henry seems excited," Michael said casually as they stopped and watched him introduce Ava and Nicholas to Apollo.

"He is," Emma agreed. "He's been waiting years to do 'real fairy tale things;' or so he tells me."

"Nick and Ava are as well. We didn't have a horse back home, and of course they didn't here."

"You're not much of a horse person either then?" Emma asked; relieved that she wasn't the only parent who had no experience with the animals.

"Hell no," Michael grinned. "Actually, I think you'll find most of Storybrooke's residents aren't. Horses are for royalty, and knights, and rich merchants. Not peasants."

"Hadn't pegged you as a peasant, I guess."

"Most of us are, or _were_, rather. Now that our memories are back, I can appreciate that the Dark One's curse brought me better fortune than anything else in the old world."

"So you wouldn't go back if you could?" Emma nearly whispered the question. She hadn't expected to have this conversation with anyone, much less someone who was nearly a stranger or to find one who wasn't as eager to get "home" as David seemed to be.

"Not back no. Not as a poor woodsman, barely scraping by on what can be scavenged from the forest."

"As something else then? Like the royal carriage towman or whatever?"

Michael laughed.

"Uh-yeah no. Not that it isn't an honor princess, but I don't think there's a lot of business to be had as a tow-carriage operator."

Emma grimaced at the title, but decided to take it as the joke it was intended as.

"Well, it's just speculation at this point anyway right?"

"Right, I'll enjoy living here as long as I can and if there's another option on the table someday…well, we'll decide as a family whether or not we want to take it."

"Sounds like a good idea," Emma replied and they lapsed into comfortable silence as they watched the children and their parents interact.

A few other kids Emma didn't recognize had joined Henry in front of Apollo's stall but as interested as they all were in petting the different horses all the kids were anxiously waiting for their lesson to actually begin.

Emma glanced at her watch and looked around for Elena but her office door was shut and no light showed beneath it. She was about to comment on her absence when the tall door at the other end of the barn slid open; daylight spilled in and three people entered. Emma squinted at the silhouettes, she recognized Elena –Regina's regal stride hadn't changed along with her name and memories. The other two remained a mystery until the door slid shut once more, revealing Jefferson and a young girl who Emma realized was his daughter. His hands were behind his back and he seemed to be intently listening to Elena as she spoke, illustrating whatever she was saying with her hands in a way that was starkly different to Regina's reserved and deliberate body language.

"Problem?" Michael asked, catching her expression and following her gaze.

"Not sure yet," Emma admitted as she continued to observe the pair, wary of the mad man who had been kicked out a third story window and disappeared completely.

A thin smile that seemed decidedly saner than she remembered drifted across his face as he nodded at Elena and shook her hand before he nudged the girl on his other side toward the gaggle of children. He slipped to the back of the group of parents as Elena turned and caught Emma's gaze. A broad smile, brighter than the professional one she'd just bestowed upon Jefferson, dawned on her face and she winked at Emma, whose brain promptly did a hard reboot –her default response to this woman who was and wasn't Regina and her smiles that lit up the room.

"Thank you all for your patience," Elena said loudly over the chatter of kids and their parents who all stopped abruptly and turned toward her. "And thank you all for coming. I'm excited to get started and I hope you are too, but before we do we need to lay some ground rules and talk safety. I'm sure this won't be a problem for any of you and I know it's boring," she leveled a stare at the kids, "but if you fail to follow the rules you'll be asked to leave immediately and we'll have to discuss whether or not you'll be welcomed back."

For a moment, Emma felt as though she was facing the stern mayor who was as regal and authoritative here in a barn, wearing riding boots and fitted pants offset by an old Tony Lama t-shirt and denim jacket as she had been in an expensive suit and her pristine office.

The other parents listened in rapt attention with the children as Elena went over rules and safety protocols. They all seemed pretty standard to Emma who took the lecture as an opportunity to openly study Elena without it being obvious that that was what she was doing. Henry had been on to something when he said the main difference between Elena and Regina was happiness. Even while rattling off rules and answering inane questions from children and their parents Elena teemed with it. It was as if there was sunshine in her soul and she couldn't help but dazzle her audience.

Emma tore her eyes away and looked over to Henry who seemed no more immune to Elena's charms than the rest of the kids. But the smile on his face was a little bittersweet and it sent a pang to Emma's heart. She made a note to ask him what was going on in his head and wondered if it was because this version of his other mother was a stranger –or if it was because she _wasn't_.

He'd never told her how he'd known Regina was the Evil Queen of his storybook. After a full day of dealing with Regina's aggressive brand of scheming Emma had thought it was obvious. However, after the curse broke and Regina had been taken down a notch or ten, her vulnerability showed through and Emma realized she'd only been getting glimpses of the woman who was not the Evil Queen or Mayor Mills but just Regina. She obviously loved Henry, something Emma had always doubted before then. The detailed photo journals Emma had been pouring over every night after Henry went to bed offered another glimpse of his the woman who had been his Mom as she had captured every one of her son's milestones for over nine years and what seemed like all of the funny, sweet, and even the normal moments in between.

As she watched Elena joke with one little girl who had shyly asked which was the nicest horse she could imagine that Elena was the part of Regina Mills that had brought joy to Henry thousands of times in his childhood and then had given him the record of those moments as one final proof that she had always, always loved him. Elena was the part of Regina Mills that had disappeared when Emma Swan came to Storybrooke.

"Emma," Henry hissed, ripping her from her thoughts to the present. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just spaced out," she assured him but made a note to ask him about his Evil Queen epiphany as she turned her attention back to Elena's lecture.

"There are helmets available for anyone who would like to wear them." She grinned, and added, "Or who would like their child to wear them, but it's not required."

Most of the parents were nodding appreciatively and Emma wondered how much of a fight it would be to talk Henry into wearing one and whether or not Regina would have made him. Probably. And if they ever managed to lift this damn spell Emma was sure Regina would give her hell's fury if she didn't.

"Now, I'll show you how to get your horse out and saddle them and then we'll get to the fun stuff alright?"

The kids all nodded eagerly and Elena turned to Henry.

"Would you mind being my guinea pig?"

"Sure!" Henry agreed eagerly.

"Perfect. Let's get Apollo out."

She narrated instructions similar to the one's she'd given Henry the week before as he put a halter on the horse and led him down to the tack area while everyone else watched. After Henry quickly but thoroughly brushed Apollo she showed him and the rest of the kids how to put on the saddle and bridle.

"You're ready to ride," she announced when Henry had fastened the final buckle. "We have about an hour, each of you grab a halter and pick a horse –_don't_ fight over them, all horses are equal in this barn, the only one off limits is in the locked stall across from my office. Any questions?"

None of her new disciples spoke up so she waved them off to find their steeds. Emma stood near Henry and absently patted Apollo as they both watched Elena supervise the others as they worked.

"Hey, do you know her?" Emma asked, subtly directing Henry's attention from Elena to the girl Jefferson was helping to saddle a bay mare at the other end of the barn.

"Yeah, Paige –well, she goes by Grace now. And that's her dad Jefferson."

"Do you know _him?_" Her protective instinct flared to life.

"Sure, when you and Mary Margaret were away David tried to get him to help us use the hat to bring you back."

"Oh really?" Emma's eyebrows shot up as she looked down at Henry. David had never mentioned _that_ part of his quest to bring them home.

"Uh-huh, but he couldn't make it work. But I helped him talk to Grace anyway. Families should be together."

"What about her other family?" Emma asked, remembering the happy couple she'd seen through the telescope in Jefferson's study.

Henry shrugged. "She still sees them I guess."

"You guess?"

"I don't really know, we don't talk a lot. She's in seventh grade," he said as if that explained everything. "Why do you ask?"

"Just…trying to put things together I guess," she replied, deciding Jefferson was one more person she'd have to keep tabs on. Henry looked at her like he knew there was something she wasn't telling him but she didn't think he really needed to know the details of her experience with Jefferson and Elena had stepped back out into the center of the hallway to gather everyone again anyway.

"Excellent work everyone. Unfortunately, I don't think we'll have time to ride today but I would like to go over mounting and dismounting in the arena so that next week we can get in as much saddle time as possible. If you would all take your lead ropes like Henry showed you and follow him and Apollo out to the Arena?" Her eyes met Henry's to make sure he was willing to assist once more. Henry beamed back at her and he and Apollo strutted down the walkway towards the carriage doors that led outside while Emma hung back to watch.

"Remember to keep a horse length or so between your horse and the one in front of you," Elena instructed as her students shuffled into a line following Henry. "We don't want anybody getting spooked or causing trouble."

Most of the parents continued walking next to their own children as they filed out of the barn, including Michael who stopped in the tack area to grab a pair of helmets for Nick and Ava. Since Jefferson was the only other parent to do so and Elena hadn't been very insistent on it, Emma decided that Henry could go without. This time anyway, since they weren't really going to be riding.

"April, don't let Sarabi get ahead of you. You're leading her, not the other way around," Elena told the last girl in line, the same one, Emma noticed, who had asked after the nicest horse.

She watched as April's mother, a short woman with brittle brown hair and a hawkish face, tapped her daughter and urged her forward in a way that wasn't exactly mean but wasn't gentle either.

"Sorry," April mumbled and picked up her step to keep up with her wayward steed.

Emma watched in rapt attention as Elena strode forward between mother and daughter.

"There's nothing to apologize for dear, you're here to learn," she said kindly as she reached out an arm and tapped the buckle under the mare's chin. "Move your hand up here just a bit. That's the way. Now can you feel how she's moved to match your pace?"

April nodded excitedly.

"You've got it," Elena praised as she held the door for April and Sarabi to pass through. Emma smirked when the girl's mother tried to look reproachful as she walked by Elena but cowed when the trainer met her gaze with a chilly expression that dared a to challenge her method.

The expression melted into a broad smile as Emma followed the trio outside. She opened her mouth to speak but something over Emma's shoulder caught her eye and instead she waved and gestured for someone behind Emma to join them.

"Sorry I'm so late," Mary Margaret said as she trotted up.

"Hey, you made it," Emma said, she'd had her doubts when her mother hadn't answered her text and hadn't met them at the barn.

"Hi again, both of you," Elena said quickly, she bussed Emma's forearm as she turned away. "Sorry, they're waiting on me."

Emma watched her go, briefly cross with Mary Margaret for her bad timing but let it go as they joined the others.

"Did I miss anything?" Mary Margaret asked. "David called as I was walking out of the office, to let me know about Greg Mendel."

"No, Henry's been showing off a little but they haven't really done anything yet," Emma assured her, ignoring the Greg Mendel conversation for now.

"Oh, good," she said as she waved to Henry. The boy returned it enthusiastically before focusing on Elena who was asking to borrow his horse.

There were benches around the outside of the arena but Emma passed them to lean directly on the fence, folding her arms across the top bar and watching intently as Elena demonstrated how to get onto the saddle.

"She's kind of amazing isn't she?" Mary Margaret asked quietly. "She was riding when David and I stopped by last week. She raced the car up the road and then jumped her horse and cleared the fence over there," she pointed to the pastures in front of the barn, "to meet us in the parking lot."

Emma was suitably impressed; those fences were even taller than the one she was leaning against.

"Did you ride much, back home?" She asked to keep the conversation going.

Mary Margaret shrugged. "Not like that. I mean I could, we had to, but a horse took off with me when I was a little girl and I fell off." She squinted, as if the memory was distant and out of focus. "I lost my taste for it after that and only rode when I absolutely had to."

Emma wondered if that had been when Snow had originally met Regina. She'd only heard tidbits of the story but she doubted her mother's horse could have run away with her many times, and the trouble recalling the memory was probably because the blessing had affected it.

"You know the more I hear about horses, the less convinced I am that it's a good idea to let my eleven-year-old anywhere near one."

"Oh it's not that bad. Elena's horses are gentle and they're in a fenced arena. There's nowhere to run."

"Yeah, unless his decides to hop the fence one day."

"I don't think that will happen," Mary Margaret said judiciously. "It takes a skilled rider to urge a horse over a fence that high, and a more spirited horse than these."

"She wasn't riding one of these when you saw her?"

"No, that horse was black. She looked like she was riding a shadow."

Emma couldn't remember seeing a black horse on the farm. There hadn't been one for the kids to choose in the main barn, but she hadn't seen one on their tour either.

"Hunh, I haven't seen that one."

"Maybe it's a stallion."

Emma looked at her mother blankly, as if that should mean something to her.

"They're usually kept away from other horses in reinforced corrals to avoid problems. They're definitely not horses for beginners."

"Good to know," Emma said.

"You should take a picture," Mary Margaret said, gesturing across the arena to where Henry was the first to attempt putting his foot in a stirrup.

Emma fumbled in her pockets for her cell phone. Even after spending a significant portion of her nights with Henry's albums she hadn't thought to bring an actual camera. Someday Regina would want to see this, even if she technically was there. Thank god for smartphones. She clicked off a couple as Henry pulled himself up onto Apollo with ease Emma hadn't expected.

"Kid's a natural."

"Of course he is," Mary Margaret said. "You probably would be too, if you wanted to try."

"Uh, after what you just told me it's enough that I let Henry within a hundred yards of one. I will stick to motorized transit thank you very much."

Snow grimaced and then literally waved as if she could physically brush off the comment.

"Maybe it's been long enough and I'm ready to get over my fear. I probably would have enjoyed it more if I had when I was younger."

Emma made a face like the suggestion left a bad flavor in her mouth. "I'm not afraid of horses. I just prefer transportation that doesn't have a mind of its own."

Snow shrugged, "Well I'm sure Henry would like to go riding with you. You should think about it."

Damn her, now she was going to. He'd probably be convinced it would help them learn how to get Regina back because they'd have to spend more time with Elena. On the other hand… Emma's eyes tracked around for Elena. Henry was perched on his horse in the middle of the arena, waiting patiently for all the other kids to catch up. Elena was several horses closer to them, and was bending to help April, who was a full eight inches shorter than her other classmates, into her saddle.

"What's that face?"

"What face?" Emma said absently, as she appreciated the view.

"_That_ face," Mary Margaret said following her gaze. "_Oh_."

"What?" Emma demanded, meeting her mother's eyes.

"Maybe it's not Henry you'd like to ride with."

Emma rolled her eyes and glared at her, inwardly cursing herself for getting caught looking. It was still _Regina_ for chrissake.

"No, that was not a face," she insisted. "You make faces. I watch. Impassively."

"It was a face," Mary Margaret assured her.

"That's my normal face."

Mary Margaret folded her arms and fixed Emma with a look she'd perfected during twenty-eight years of teaching fourth graders. It wasn't working on Emma though; she just focused resolutely on Henry, who was now climbing off his horse as Elena praised all the children on their efforts.

"Next time, come right in, pick your horse and saddle-up," she told her students as they dismounted and followed Henry out of the arena once more.

Emma and Mary Margaret met Henry at the gate and walked back to the barn with him.

"You looked good up there kid," Emma said.

"Thanks, I wish we got to ride though."

"Well it sounds like you'll get to next week."

"Maybe we could come by again this weekend to see Elena and she'll let me ride?" Henry asked hopefully as he tied Apollo outside the horse's stall and began removing the saddle and blanket.

"Or maybe David and I could come out and we could all go?" Mary Margaret interjected before Emma had the chance to answer.

"That's…" Emma fumbled for an appropriate reply. She looked at Henry for help but he only nodded enthusiastically at her, with big doe eyes. _Little traitor_. "That sounds doable?"

"Yes!"

"We'll have to talk to Elena, she's got a lot of work on her hands," Emma warned.

"Tell her I can help!"

Emma rolled her eyes; she should have expected that.

"I'll talk to her," she promised.

"Woohoo!" Henry bounced off to put his saddle and tack away.

"Well, you just made his week," Emma told her mother.

"Sorry, I kinda hijacked that discussion didn't I?" Mary Margaret had the grace to look contrite.

"It's okay. He would have talked me into it anyway and this way we'll all get to spend some time together."

"That will be nice," her mother agreed. "I feel like I haven't seen you at all since you got back."

She hadn't, because Emma had been avoiding her. Not that it had been hard since Mary Margaret had taken over as mayor. But Emma realized that it wasn't fair to give her family the silent treatment for something they couldn't remember doing; she knew they wouldn't have done if they had felt like they had another choice. That didn't make Emma want to undo the magic on Regina any less or make it any easier to do so but she had missed Mary Margaret; chatting with her today had felt like it had before the curse had broken and they could just talk like friends.

"I know. We'll work on that," she vowed. "I don't know what normal is yet, but I want you guys to be a part of it; for Henry and for me."

She'd done it now. Tears welled up in Mary Margaret's eyes and she pressed her lips together in an expression that Emma knew meant she wanted to sob and hug her for the next ten minutes. Not that Emma didn't appreciate the sentiment but this wasn't really the place she would have picked to hash out family drama.

"Hey, are you going to talk to her?" Henry's return saved Emma from the moment and the change in subject allowed Mary Margaret to compose herself.

"Who –oh." Emma looked over to where Elena was talking with a group of parents, including April's mother who had apparently regained her confidence and was grilling the trainer about something Emma couldn't quite hear.

"Maybe it'd be better to give her a call tomorrow kid," she decided, damned if she wasn't disappointed by it.

"Or we could come by after school," Henry suggested.

"We'll see," Emma made no promises.

"Okay, but I want to say goodbye."

He was off before she could stop him and working his adorable child skills to the max to cut through the group of parents. He interrupted April's mom mid-tirade to throw his arms around Elena and say thanks and Emma had an epiphany. Her kid was a wily one. She smirked as Elena froze and for the space of a breath looked like she had no idea what to do, but then recovered and hugged Henry back, giving him one of her winning smiles and thanking him for being her assistant as he pulled away. A second later and Henry had dashed back through the crowd, waving to Nick and Ava as he marched out to the car with Emma and Mary Margaret.

"Smooth kid," Emma commented when they had exited the barn.

"What?"

"I saw that little maneuver. You have a plan."

Henry's eyes widened and his lips quirked up in a little smile that he knew would get him out of anything if wielded correctly.

"What's this one called?"

"Operation Elephant, 'cause an elephant never forgets," he announced proudly.

Emma chuckled, "Phase one: complete?"

"Phase one: success."

"What are you talking about?" Mary Margaret said with a laugh that suggested she wanted to be in on the secret.

"It's need-to-know Grandma, we'll tell you later." He hugged her and got into the bug, leaving her to gape at her daughter who shrugged.

"I just go with it," Emma said. "He'll explain when he's ready."

That didn't stop her from asking what phase two was as soon as they were on their way home.

"I'm not sure yet," Henry admitted. "I hadn't really planned to hug her that quickly."

"Solid improv skills, you seized the moment like a pro," she praised. Not that she loved it when the kid turned his powers of manipulation on her. It was gonna suck when he turned into a teenager.

"I think I'll make up my next move as I go along. She obviously wants to love me."

Emma snorted at his bravado but didn't deny it. Regina's love for Henry was obviously still there, getting Elena to feel it didn't look like it was going to be much of a challenge.

"So I think we should invite her to go horseback riding with us this weekend."

Emma groaned. She needed to go back to her Greg Mendel problem, at least that one involved staying firmly on the ground.

* * *

**Notes: **_I'm so sorry for the wait for this chapter. Now that I am healthy and finals are over updates will be more frequent and consistent. FYI I'm now following canon up to _Manhattan. _Some familiar characters are going to pop up but they'll be a bit different. __Neal still isn't Baelfire, sorry if this disappoints you. Also, please consider all Fairy Tale flashbacks canon but not Present World flashbacks, i.e. I'm not using most of the information we got from _Welcome to Storybrooke _or_ Selfless, Brave and True. _If I've managed to thoroughly confuse you then I hope you'll trust me and let me explain in future chapters or just ask and I'll try to clear things up. I love to talk shop. Thank you for reading!_


	7. Improvising

**Improvising**

"Good morning Henry," Ruby chirped as the eleven-year-old walked through the door of the diner. "It's been a while since we've seen you on a Wednesday. Is Emma coming too?"

Henry turned a sheepish smile on her. "She said if I wanted a hot breakfast Granny would have to cook it for me. She said to put it on her tab. I think she'll probably be by for coffee soon."

"Fair enough, would you like your usual?"

Henry nodded, surveying the tables to see if his and Emma's usual spot was taken. It wasn't so he sat down and pulled out an old issue of _Hulk vs. Wolverine_ to peruse while he waited for his food to arrive. The bell over the door chimed as the early morning regulars made their way in and out of to-go orders. Henry ignored most of it until the sound of a familiar voice snagged him back to present and he looked up to see Elena talking with Mrs. Kotter about her children having a riding class to themselves since there were so many of them. Inspiration struck and Henry waved Ruby over to whisper something in her ear.

When Elena finished her conversation (with a promise to fit a group lesson for the Kotter kids in her weekly schedule) she made her way over to the bar.

"Hi there," Ruby said with a broad smile as she flipped a white rag over her shoulder and stepped up to Elena. "You must be new in town, I haven't seen you before."

"Relatively," Elena replied ruefully. "I'm afraid I haven't had a chance to explore town very much since arriving. I'm Elena, I've taken over the ranch on the edge of town and the renovation has made me something of a hermit. But I've been told on several occasions that Granny's is the place to start rectifying that."

"That's right," Ruby grinned as if she hadn't already known exactly who Elena was and what she was doing in town. "Welcome to Storybrooke, I'm Ruby. The rumor mill's been going overtime about you. You've collected quite a few admirers. One of which," she reached beneath the counter to pull out a steaming to-go cup, "Thought you might enjoy starting off your morning with a café-latte."

Ruby's eyes tracked over Elena's shoulder and she turned to the corner booth where Henry was very studiously reading his comic book and definitely not going to look up at them. A smile blossomed over Elena's face at the sweet gesture from the boy who was quickly becoming her favorite student.

"Well, I suppose I should go thank the gentleman."

"Careful with that one ma'am, he's making quite a habit of buying pretty women drinks. You'll be wrapped around his finger before you know it."

Elena smirked and took her beverage.

"Ruby," she said as she slid off her barstool, "I have a feeling we'll be friends but I better not hear you call me ma'am again."

"You got it," Ruby assured her and went back to wiping down the counter. She watched as Elena walked over, wondering what Henry had up his sneaky sleeve now. The last time he'd started buying a grown woman drinks over breakfast it'd turned out to be his birth mother, The Savior. She wondered who this stranger would turn out to be and what Henry knew about it that no one else did.

"Is this seat taken?" Elena pointed to the bench across from Henry.

He hastily stowed his comic and folded his hands on the table.

"Well I was kinda hoping it would be," he sassed with a charming grin he'd picked up from his blonde mother.

"Thank you for the drink," Elena said as she sat down across from him. "I'm impressed you added sugar."

"Lucky guess," Henry shrugged.

"You're here alone?"

He shrugged again, "I think Emma will be here any minute."

"Do you come here often?"

"Usually just Sunday's now, it's kind of our thing."

"Can I get you anything else?" Ruby interrupted them. "Sorry Elena, I should have asked while you were at the bar."

Elena gestured for her not to worry about it and asked Henry, "What do you recommend, since you have such excellent taste in beverages?"

"Try the apple pancakes," Henry said without hesitation. "I think you'll really like them."

"Apple pancakes it is," she told Ruby with a grin.

"Perfect, I'll bring your food out with hers Henry. Should I start Emma's usual too?"

Henry nodded, "And a _big_ hot cocoa with cinnamon."

Ruby gave him a suspicious look but when he beamed at her she left without comment.

"So, I didn't really get a chance to talk with you Monday about your lesson. What did you think?"

"It was fun, I liked being your assistant but I wish we had gotten to ride."

"I know I feel bad about that. Two hours just wasn't enough time to go over safety rules and get everyone caught up to you."

"It's ok. But Emma and I were kinda hoping we could come by this weekend and go riding."

"Emma rides?"

"Well, not exactly, but Mary Margaret and David do and they said they'd show us so you wouldn't have to do anything if you're busy."

"That wouldn't be a problem," Elena said thoughtfully. "I don't have lessons on the weekend and no one else has made private appointments. I wouldn't mind helping you and Emma. I think between the two of us we could catch her up pretty quickly."

"Awesome! I don't think Emma's that excited about it, I think she's a little bit scared. But she'll get over it, she's really brave."

Ruby returned with plates of apple pancakes for both of them and a glass with milk for Henry.

"Thanks Ruby," they chorused.

"You bet," Ruby said and moved along to refill coffees at the booths behind them.

"Mmm," Elena said as she tried a bite of her pancakes. "Good choice, these are delicious."

"They're pretty good," Henry said. Granny's pancakes were nice but his mom perfected everything with apples and hers beat Granny's outta town. Even after his run in with the cursed turnover he still craved her confections.

"So can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Henry said, taking a big gulp of milk and waiting expectantly for Elena to continue.

"You call your mother Emma? How come?"

Henry floundered for a minute. He'd always called Emma, Emma. He'd tried calling her 'Mom' once in New York but it had felt kind of weird and she had nearly fallen off the sidewalk when he'd said it so he'd decided that Regina would always be 'Mom' and he'd figure something else out for Emma when she was ready.

"I was adopted," he said finally, deciding that the truth was the best route. "I found Emma and now I live with her because my mom isn't here right now."

"Oh." Surprise played across Elena's face but she banished it quickly. She couldn't get rid of the sad look that took its place in her eyes though. Regina hadn't been nearly as easy to read but Henry had seen that quiet sorrow on her face more times than he could count, and he wondered what had put it there now. Was a bit of his mother peeking through or was it Elena's blessed memories making her look this way. Wasn't the blessing supposed to make her happy?

Elena gave him an indulgent smile and was about to ask another question when the bell over the door tinkled and Emma schlumped in and dropped on the seat next to Henry. Ruby seemed to materialize right behind her and set another large to go cup in front of her.

"Chocolate and coffee, best of both worlds," Ruby said with a wink for Henry.

"Oh bless you, you wonderful human being," Emma said emphatically as she picked it up and took a long pull from the drink.

"You're welcome," Ruby said as she deftly transferred three plates of food and a glass of milk for Henry from her tray to their table. "Enjoy!"

"So, we're having a very impromptu breakfast," Emma said with a little scowl for her son, who had adopted the most innocent expression he could muster. She added, "Good morning Elena, nice to see you again. What were we talking about?"

"Henry was just telling me about your plans to go for a family ride this weekend?"

"I hope he asked nicely, and remembered that you have a business to run," Emma mumbled, giving Henry's foot a nudge with her own under the table.

"He was the very definition of gentility," Elena teased loftily, winking at Henry. "He bought me a drink before he made the date and everything."

Emma noticed she couldn't quite wink one eye, the other always blinked with it. It was endearing.

_The hell, Swan?_

"That's kind of his thing," she said drily, casting a sidelong glance at Henry so she wouldn't have to look at Elena. The happy expression on Regina's face was messing with her head again and she really needed to figure out how to stop that before it happened. It was just the blessing, when they brought Regina back it would be gone. _Fucking magic._

Henry covered his smirk by shoveling a forkful of scrambled eggs and hash browns into his mouth.

"So I've heard," Elena said, looking between the two with a mirthful but curious expression. She was certain there was some element to this conversation she wasn't getting but neither of the Swans deigned to let her in on it.

"Well, I'm sure you're busy, and have a schedule and prices set up for this sort of thing," Emma hedged. "Mary Margaret thought it would be a fun family outing and the little traitor here agreed before I had a chance to say no."

Elena waved her off, "No, David talked to me ages ago. I meant it when I said you're welcome to use the horses anytime. I understand he had an arrangement with the Gordons and I don't mind keeping things the way they are. Actually, that's four less horses I have to exercise so you'll be taking some work off my hands."

"Are you sure," Emma asked, trying to suppress her discomfort at accepting Elena's offer. David and Mary Margaret hadn't given her a chance to pay for Henry's lessons and it irritated her to feel like she was accepting handouts. Even if they were from her parents and Elena was…well, Regina.

"I wouldn't offer if I wasn't."

"Elena was saying we could come by earlier and catch you up on saddling and mounting and then we could learn to ride together and surprise David and Mary Margaret. What do you think?"

Elena couldn't smother her chuckle at Emma's bewildered expression although when Emma glowered at her for it she did take a drink to hide her smile.

"I think you should finish your breakfast or you'll miss the bus," Emma snarked.

"Well, maybe Elena could just go riding with us too," Henry continued. "David says there's a trail through the forest have you been?"

Elena shook her head. "I haven't had the chance to go off the ranch yet but I've been meaning to."

"You should come!" Henry announced happily, his plan was working perfectly.

"No, I think that's family time, I don't want to intrude," she said, finding that she didn't like being in the hot seat nearly as much as she enjoyed watching Emma squirm as she tried to subvert Henry's expert machinations. "You'll have to show me another time."

Henry pouted but didn't protest because Emma kicked his foot under the table again when he tried.

"Anyway, you'll-

Loud barking cut off whatever Elena was planning to say. Archie had come through the diner door with Pongo who was usually much more sedate when Archie stopped in for his morning coffee and bagel. Henry half-expected Elena to comment on the dog being allowed in the restaurant at all because it was unusual and his mother would have had a fit about regulations if she knew. He was surprised when Pongo pulled Archie over to their table and put a paw on Elena's leg and she merely listened with a perplexed expression as the Dalmatian let out a series of quiet whuffs and bays that sounded almost conversational.

Emma looked from the dog to Archie and back to Elena with wide eyes and a gaping mouth. The rest of the diner patrons returned to their meals as if this happened all of the time but Ruby kept a watchful eye on the dog from across the room.

"Well hello to you too," Elena laughed when Pongo had finished and removed his paw from her knee. She reached out to scratch his ears and the dog sat sedately next to his master as if he'd delivered a very important message and they could carry on as usual now.

"You have the weirdest dog Archie," Emma told the therapist.

"S-sorry, he's not usually so social," Archie apologized. "And never with people he doesn't know. I'm sorry for interrupting your meal."

"No worries," Henry quipped, leaning forward to look at the dog. Pongo was weird, but he'd always figured that was because Archie treated him like a human and he technically _was_ a fairytale character.

"It's no trouble at all," Elena assured him. She offered her hand. "I'm Elena Quijano, I've just moved to Storybrooke."

"Enchanted," Archie said gently as he took her hand and returned her smile bashfully. "I'm Archie Hopper and this is Pongo, who would apparently also like to welcome you to Storybrooke."

"After this morning I feel thoroughly welcomed," she said happily.

"Right," Archie paused as if searching for something to say. "Do I- Have we met? It…it's just Pongo doesn't usually act like this."

Elena frowned and shook her head while Emma and Henry both watched in rapt attention.

"I don't believe so; I haven't spent much time in Maine. I've traveled a lot; maybe we've met at an event before?"

"No, I haven't been out of Storybrooke in quite some time," Archie said. He seemed to search for something more to say and came up short. "Well, sorry again to have interrupted your morning. It's a pleasure to meet you Ms. Quijano; nice to see you Sheriff, Henry."

"See ya, later Archie," Henry said, then drank the last of his milk and elbowed Emma. "Let me out, I've gotta go catch the bus."

"I should go too," Elena slid out of her own seat and took enough money to cover her meal and a tip out of her purse and laid it next to her plate. I have a meeting with Principal Honey at the high school to set up a volunteer internship for students who want to enter a vet program."

"Wow, you don't mess around do you? You've been here what, four weeks?"

"Six; and it's really a sneaky way to get some assistants to help with lessons and chores."

"Mm, I've heard of programs like that," Emma said. "I think your school will be a great thing for Storybrooke."

Just as long as they could keep the town's eccentricities hidden from actual outsiders and Emma could solve all the problems that had popped up since the curse had broken without starting Fairy Tale War I.

She didn't even want to think about that though until she'd finished the rest of her coffee.

"Come on kid, we gotta get you to the bus so I can enjoy the rest of my breakfast," Emma stood to let Henry out and caught Ruby's eye to gesture that she'd be back in a minute.

The three of them walked out of the diner together, Henry trotted ahead of both his mothers looking very pleased with himself for having pulled the morning together so perfectly without even trying.

"So I'll see you…Saturday then?" Elena probed, as they paused on the sidewalk in front of the diner to say goodbye.

"Saturday morning yes, Mary Margaret wants to pack a picnic for lunch." Emma rolled her eyes.

"Sounds like fun. I'll see you Saturday then," Elena said with a smile. "Thanks for letting me invade your breakfast."

"My pleasure," Henry smiled. He wanted to hug her again but decided not to push it. These things must be handled delicately. He'd learned that with Emma.

They waved and went separate ways, Elena to a brand new Chevy truck that was parked against the sidewalk and Emma and Henry towards the corner where a group of kids were waiting for the school bus.

"Hey walk slow with me for a minute," Emma said, tugging Henry's backpack to pull him back into step with her. They only had two drive ways before they'd be in hearing range of the other kids.

Henry's shoulders slumped, knowing what was coming.

"This morning really wasn't cool kid," Emma said as sternly as she could. She hadn't really had to discipline the kid before and she was finding she probably liked it even less than he did.

"We used to meet at Granny's for breakfast all the time," Henry pointed out. "And you said-

"I know what I said. And that was before you lived with me all the time. It's not fun to come out of your room at seven in the morning and realize your kid is gone. What if something had happened to you?"

"I just walked to Granny's and I left a note."

"And that is all that stopped me from looking for you in the squad car with the sirens going. Will ya look at me please?"

Henry turned to her and she bent to be on his level, the same way she'd seen Regina do countless times.

"I know we used to do things differently before the curse broke but I think maybe we made some mistakes too. I feel really bad if your mom ever felt like I did this morning because you'd snuck out to have breakfast with me."

Henry frowned in the direction Elena had driven off. He hadn't really thought of that before and before the curse broke he wouldn't really have cared.

"I know you miss your mom making you breakfast every morning."

"Her apple pancakes are better than Granny's," Henry whispered, knowing Granny had wolf-hearing and not wanting her to come out and scold him too.

Emma chuckled and ruffled his hair. "Fair enough. Anytime you want to go to Granny's for breakfast you just say okay?"

"What if I don't?" Henry asked, genuinely curious as to what boundaries Emma was going to set rather than asking for the sake of being obstinate.

"I'll talk to Ruby, no more using my tab to buy food. If you talk to me first I'll give you money."

"So I'll have to go to school without food?"

Emma's heart lurched at the thought. Henry had grown up never knowing what it was like to go hungry for any reason and if Emma had her way he never would either.

"I was thinking you'd have to wash dishes and earn your keep," she thought quickly. "I think at the going rate for a busboy today's breakfast would have cost you about two hours. Seriously though just talk to me, that's not so bad right?"

"Nope," Henry threw his arms together. "I love you Emma."

"Love you too, kid." Emma returned the hug, certain that she was never going to get used to how good being a mom felt.

"See you after school." He pulled out of her arms and ran for the bus. She waited until it pulled away with Henry safely inside before heading back to the diner to finish her breakfast and talk to Ruby.

* * *

**Notes: **_Shorter chapter this time because it's actually the first half of what's quickly becoming a behemoth. Part II will be up when I get back from camping. Expect more Ruby, more fluff as I can't seem to avoid that, and more plot. Happy weekend all, happy Memorial Day all who celebrate. Thanks for reading everyone!_


	8. Doubt

**Doubt**

Despite the regime change and disturbances to the routine, one thing that Emma appreciated since returning was Storybrooke's tendency to run like clockwork. Though there were a few people lingering in the diner she knew it would clear out by the time she finished her own breakfast and she'd be able to chat with the Lucas' about their erstwhile customer. In the meantime, she had every intention to think about something, anything, other than Regina Mills but her subconscious betrayed her and kept replaying the morning she'd just spent with her son and his enchanted other mother.

Henry might be scheming to get to know Elena in hopes that some spark of maternal love might be enough to help him remove the blessing on her but the more Emma got to know Elena, the more she wondered where this part of Regina's personality had been buried all these years. If Emma hadn't so thoroughly fumbled the situation with Archie would it have surfaced? She thought she'd seen glimpses; brief, sincere moments when the Queen and the Mayor masks slipped and the woman showed through. When Regina had told her to go save their son in the mines and then again when Emma had promised her at the sheriff's station that she wasn't going to let her die; and again when had saved her and Snow from Gold's magic at the well.

Looking back Emma realized she'd never seen Regina with a genuine smile on her face until the moment she'd welcomed her back to the real world at the well. Afterwards they had kept appearing; hesitantly as if Regina was just remembering what happiness actually felt like and then Emma had ruined it all by accusing Regina of murder and taking Henry away.

Elena flashed those smiles as though she'd never had a reason to mime happiness. If Henry removed the blessing would that disappear once more? Would Regina retain any of the capacity for joy that she had as Elena? Did it matter if Henry had his mom back? She was positive that Regina wouldn't hesitate to sacrifice her own happiness in order to ensure Henry's but Emma wished the two didn't seem so mutually exclusive.

"Refill?"

Emma rejoined reality as Ruby sat down with a carafe of coffee and a mug of her own.

"Please." She said, pulling the lid off her cup so Ruby could fill it. "How was your run?"

"Great. I think I've been to every edge Storybrooke has that isn't under water."

"Sounds…fun?" Emma said, raising her eyebrows skeptically.

"Yeah, it really kind of is," Ruby replied. "I really appreciate it you know, that you just take the wolf thing in stride. It's kind of amazing; I mean up until about four months ago you didn't even know they actually existed."

"Oh please," Emma said as she scooped a generous helping of sugar into her coffee and stirred it thoroughly. "It turned out that my parents are Snow White and Prince Charming –who, by the way, are my age- and my son's other mother is-" Emma stopped abruptly at Ruby's stunned expression. "Well, anyway, real werewolves are actually the least shocking part of all of this. Besides, they're in now. Team Jacob and all that…No big deal right?"

"I can't believe you just compared my plight to a mediocre, angst-ridden, teen romance," Ruby griped.

"If the furry paw fits…" Emma grinned.

Ruby groaned at the bad joke but let it go to pursue other topics of conversation.

"So are you gonna keep pretending there's not something going on with you or are you going to do this the easy way?"

If it were anyone else asking, Emma would try to play at obliviousness but Ruby had a knack for reading people and she had about as much tolerance for bullshit as Emma herself.

"It's…complicated," she said, not even knowing where to begin to explain.

"Gee Emma, complicated in Storybrooke? I'm so surprised." Emma didn't need to look up to know Ruby was rolling her eyes.

"You could start by explaining what's up with Mr. Gold?" Ruby suggested. "Who, by the way, showed up this morning asking for the rent, which was bizarre, but I'd rather you started with Elena Quijano and why Pongo was yammering on and on to her about what happened to Archie and how he tried to tell everyone it wasn't her."

Emma nearly spewed coffee at the brunette who was looking at her like she was waiting for a particularly good bedtime story.

"_Who said what?_"

"Pongo," Ruby said simply.

"You can _actually_ talk to dogs_?"_

Ruby rolled her eyes, "Seriously? _That_ is what surprises you?"

For a moment Emma just gaped at her like a fish trying to breathe air. She had no idea when Ruby had told her something was wrong with Archie that fateful day that she had known because the dog had literally told her so. Sure, Snow had casually chatted with a raven in the Enchanted Forest but that had been her world, not Granny's Diner in Maine, USA, planet Earth.

Really though, nothing should shock her anymore at this point in her life.

"You're right, absolutely normal. Carry on."

Ruby shrugged. "I was trying to look like I wasn't listening, since Elena's not from around here and dogs do what dogs do right? But he called her _'Alpha'_ and was going on about something happening to Archie but as far as I'm concerned Archie looks totally normal and definitely not dead. So what gives?"

"Ruby," Emma sighed and scrubbed her eyes with one hand, "This really isn't a morning coffee conversation, this is a late night, full bottle of MacCutcheon kind of conversation."

"Yeah, well, you've been back for almost two weeks and you still haven't called me for a girls' night, so you're stuck with what you got."

"It's pretty unbelievable."

"You're talking to a _werewolf_."

_Touche_, Emma thought as she looked around the diner, to make sure no one was eavesdropping. Greg Mendel was in a holding cell at her station but someone had tipped him off about Ruby.

"No one's coming in for at least forty-five minutes," Ruby assured her. "Get talking. And while you're at it you can explain that 'Henry's other mother' comment too. Don't think I missed that."

"It's kind of the same story," Emma admitted.

"So you and she were like…a thing?" Ruby's said with a lascivious grin, hoping Emma was about to reveal something juicy about her mysterious past.

"God no!" Emma snapped. "She's from your land."

"She just moved here from the outside," Ruby protested. "And what's that supposed to mean? _You're_ from _my_ land too you know."

"I thought you were gonna believe me? Do you wanna hear this or not?"

Ruby made a zipping motion across her lips and waited expectantly.

"She's from your land. Nobody remembers her because apparently the Blue Fairy put some kind of spell on her that made her forget who she was and everybody else in town forgot too."

"So, she's stuck with her Storybrooke memories? Like Belle?"

"No, that's the thing she didn't _have_ Storybrooke memories. Elena is completely new."

"So who was she?"

"Regina Mills."

Ruby's expression was blank. Emma shouldn't have expected any recognition, nobody in town had thought of her as Regina anyway.

"The Evil Queen?" She tried again.

Ruby's expression didn't change.

"Look, you think Rumplestiltskin was the one who cast the curse right?"

Ruby nodded.

"He wasn't. He got the Evil Queen to do it for him. But this spell changed everybody's memory of what happened in the last year, just enough that things seem the same but they're totally different. Gold has no memory of being Mayor because Regina was, and he probably came looking for the rent because according to his memories he owns most of the town and that's what he did."

"You're telling me everything we think Gold did, it was actually Regina? Gold didn't adopt Henry the Evil Queen did?"

"_Former_ Evil Queen," Emma corrected. "And yes."

"So did the Blue Fairy put a spell on her so she wouldn't be the Evil Queen anymore?"

"That's the thing! I don't know _why_ the Blue Fairy cast the spell. All I have are these pieces and hints that make no sense I'm just supposed to find out how they go together and figure out what the hell to do."

"That _is_ complicated," Ruby said, using the table to brace backwards in her seat. "And in the meantime you're letting Henry have breakfast with her?"

"Ooh not 'letting'," Emma declared. "That was all on my kid: the con-man/super-genius. He left me a note this morning and came down for breakfast."

"I figured something was going on when he walked in without you."

"Yeah, we had a talk about that. Do me a favor and make him wash dishes next time he shows up and tries to use my tab."

"Can do, Granny'll love it. That's her kind of parenting," Ruby said with a fond glance toward the kitchen where the woman was still busy cleaning up after the breakfast rush.

"Whadaya know, maybe I am doing something right," Emma mused.

"But you haven't explained what's up with Elena, Regina, whatever her name is," Ruby shook her head as she tried to sort out the details of Emma's story and make them mesh with her own muddled memories. "I remember Henry being miserable with Mr. Gold; that's why he came to find you. But watching him with her this morning –he pulled the same trick with the drink that he pulled on you your first day here. And you _are_ here- so he had to have come to get you for some reason but you all ate breakfast together like you've been doing it for years."

"Yeah, well," Emma looked down and tapped the lid of her cup and tried to figure out how best to explain Regina. "Regina wasn't all sunshine and daisies, but she was a good mother and she was trying to be a good person for Henry. He's having a hard time without her and he's convinced that he can kiss her and bring her back."

"Because your kiss brought him back."

"Give the lady a prize." Emma raised her cup flippantly and then took a long drink, wishing there was something stronger in it.

"I don't understand though, if she wasn't the Evil Queen anymore why did the Blue Fairy put a spell on her that would change everyone's memories?"

"Your guess is as good as mine at this point," she said with a wild gesture to imply the endless possibilities. "It may even be better. What do you remember happening after I left with Gold?"

Ruby frowned as she tried to sort through memories that seemed to grow fuzzier the more she tried to focus on them.

"Hook caused some trouble," she began, but she sounded uncertain. "But your parents stopped him and things were almost normal for a few days until the storm came in."

"Snow and David mentioned that," Emma confirmed.

"Usually we have some warning but it came so fast and hit hard. Some electrical lines blew down on the convent and started a fire; all the buildings on Main Street had damage either from the wind or the flames. I remember a few people leaving, saying if they couldn't go home then they were at least going to move somewhere normal. It was only a handful though, the rest of us just got to work fixing things. I think the fairies must have helped but I don't…I can't say for sure what they used magic on. What are you thinking? Do you think Regina had something to do with that?"

Emma gave her a non-committal shrug.

"I don't really know. And I _can't_ know unless I undo this spell."

"And Henry has a plan to do that," Ruby confirmed. "But what if she did? What if Regina reverted or whatever and the Blue Fairy changed her memories so she wouldn't want to hurt anyone?"

"I mean I can't prove that didn't happen but Regina had come a long way and I don't think she would have just ditched all that because someone pissed her off."

"You're willing to gamble on that?" Ruby asked bluntly. "Because that's what you're doing, betting that you're not releasing an Evil Queen on everyone in Storybrooke."

"Let me ask you something." Emma leaned forward and dropped her voice, fully aware that she was about to cross a privacy line she hadn't traversed since the curse had been broken.

"You're different now," she carefully told the brunette. "Duh right? But you're more...confident and settled and…sad?"

She watched Ruby's face for any sign that she'd offended her and for a brief second an expression she recognized as haunted flickered across the other woman's open face but she cocked her head and replaced it with tentative curiosity.

"And you still call yourself Ruby," Emma continued. "Would you go back and be _just_ Ruby again if you could? Do you ever wish you didn't remember being Red?"

"God, now _there's_ a MacCutcheon conversation," Ruby said with a self-deprecating grin.

"Yeah, well you have about thirty minutes," Emma mocked her. "So start talking."

Ruby looked down into her mug of coffee to compose her thoughts.

"Honestly," she began after a long pause. "I would cross the town line today if I could guarantee that the wolf would be forgotten along with Red."

_That_ was not what Emma expected to hear from her mother's oldest friend and she had to react quickly to keep her shock from showing on her face.

"There are other things I wouldn't want to give up," Ruby admitted. "It's nice not to wonder all the time where you come from, you know? And Granny and I understand each other more now. We went through a lot together once upon a time and 'Ruby' was only just at the beginning of that journey. So I am more settled, but I guess that's not a bad thing."

They shared a smirk at that, knowing that for both of them "settled" would never seem quite natural.

"Sorry, I guess that wasn't what you wanted to hear huh?"

"No, no. I mean, I didn't want to hear anything one way or another." Which was mostly true. "I just…I get that you have things in your past you'd rather not remember. I just can't help but wonder if Regina might too."

"Well, yeah, Evil Queen kind of implies that right?"

Implied was an understatement. And the mixed feelings Emma had about Regina's past were legion.

"Yeah, and I can't really get over that. But I also can't get over the fact that she raised Henry for ten years of his life and I know I'm biased but he is a _really_ great kid."

"Em, lots of really great kids have lousy parents."

"Yeah, but as near as I can tell his biggest beef with her is that she lied to him about being the Evil Queen."

Ruby's eyes narrowed.

"Lies hurt Emma, even the ones we tell to protect the people we love. Sometimes those are the ones that hurt most of all."

Suddenly it seemed like her friend Ruby was gone and the woman who had been named Emma's godmother had taken her place. Emma thought about what she said and had to swallow the lump that rose in her throat as she remembered the little untruth she'd told Henry about his father.

"It could have been so much worse though," she insisted. "I know _exactly _how things could have been worse. I was _terrified_ of worse. That's why I placed him to begin with. He would have gone into the system until I got out of jail and he probably would have ended up there again before I got my life together. I just couldn't do that to my kid! He deserved more than that and at the time private adoption was the only way I could give it to him."

She paused, biting her lip as she remembered the hours she'd spent in a tiny conference room going over her options with a social worker, trying to figure out what was best for her baby. And then she recalled that awful moment when she'd stood on Regina's porch and was _sure_ that she'd made the wrong decision. But for all her faults Regina had proven her wrong about that at least. If there had been any doubt left in her mind after Regina had helped Emma break the curse to save Henry then the past few weeks had banished it completely.

"Before they cast the spell Regina must have had some time to get things in order, because she left him some stuff. The spell got rid of everything in her house but somehow she gave him this trunk with his favorite blanket and these photo albums, these _gorgeous_ photo albums, with notes about every picture. I've been looking through them for two weeks and I'm still not finished. She gave him everything Ruby, everything I wished for him. He had toys and birthday parties and books and piano lessons –My kid can play the piano! Henry was her whole world. And even after everything that has happened I don't know how someone who is supposed to be evil incarnate could be capable of the kind of love that I see in every single one of those pictures."

"He still had to come find you though, and –at least in my memory."

"Yeah, he did and for a long time I wasn't sure that I'd done the right thing so I stayed. But I am sure now that she loved him and that he needs her."

"It's not like she's gone completely though," Ruby pointed out. "Maybe Elena's all of those good things; maybe she's the part that was capable of that kind of love. That sounds like something the Blue Fairy would arrange."

"Yeah, but why?" She asked. "I keep coming back to that. I won't know why she did it unless I undo it –but then I don't know if I should? And if I don't then what do I tell Henry because the kid just really wants his mom back. Regina left a letter and said it was a punishment but the Blue Fairy said the 'blessing' she used had to be wished for. And nobody can tell me what the hell the truth is because nobody can remember!"

She clenched her hands to keep from slapping the table in frustration and Ruby sighed and layered on some sympathy.

"We definitely should have waited for booze," she said resolutely and Emma let out a chuckle that was a little hysterical. "I wish I could tell you what you want to know."

Emma gave her a thin but appreciative smile and forced herself to relax; knowing Ruby was probably the last person she should be taking her frustration out on.

"I think I gotta let Henry try, even you said you wouldn't go back to the way your relationship is with Granny now. Elena likes the kid but she's not his _Mom_, you know?"

"It always comes back to mothers doesn't it?"

Emma cocked her head and waited for Ruby to continue.

"You didn't have a mom, Snow didn't have a mom, I didn't have a mom…I wouldn't wish that on anybody much less Henry, even if he does have a perfectly good mother sitting right in front of me."

"I'm not though," Emma vented. "I mean I _am._ But I wasn't there for him growing up and now I'm learning how to do everything by doing it the wrong way first."

"Oh, come on, you're not that bad. That kid adores you."

Emma's eyebrows raised in reluctant agreement. "Good thing too, or he'd never put up with me."

"I'll help, if I can," Ruby offered. "Maybe I could talk to Belle and see if she has any books on how to reverse fairy magic?"

"I thought Belle doesn't have her memories?"

"She doesn't remember our world, but she knows the library like I know this diner."

"And she can help us find magic books?" Emma asked skeptically.

"Well…she knows Storybrooke is kind of a weird town. She and Tom Clarke saw more than we could explain before everybody decided to go on the down-low about the fairy tale thing."

"Sure, we can ask. But it'll have to be on my off hours," Emma said as she glanced at the clock, noting that she was officially going to be late for work.

"That's a lot of sudden concern about office hours for someone who is still sitting in a diner booth."

"This is a working breakfast," Emma informed her. "I've still gotta talk to you about Greg Mendel."

"Great," Ruby replied in a tone that suggested she thought it was anything but. "You're gonna have to do it while _I _work though, the dwarves have a standing order to pick up coffee on their way to work."

"Not a lot to tell really," Emma admitted, but she followed Ruby over to the bar anyway. "

"Well you're going to have to tell it to a bigger audience," Granny announced as she strode through the door from the kitchen.

Ruby and Emma both smiled at her in greeting as the older woman began assembling cardboard totes and coffee cozies for the drinks Ruby was preparing.

"Better than telling it twice," Emma quipped. "His real name is Owen Flynn; he uses a penname when he travels."

"Your background check said that?" Ruby clarified as she popped open two drink carriers and poured steaming coffee into eight cups.

"No, but his driver's license did. I confronted him about it and he said as much. So I ran a check on both names and his story checks out. He really is a writer for a travel magazine. He covers a niche beat, going to places that are supposed to be haunted or that have weird urban legends and then he writes about them."

"And Storybrooke, Maine is right up his alley," Granny muttered.

"Bingo. He does more standard writing under his real name and only has a traffic ticket on his record."

"Standard flunky who chased the wrong story at the wrong time?"

"Sure seems like it. I don't know how he got so close to figuring out your little secret but he knows now that he was onto _something_ and he knows the trespassing charges are bull. It's illegal to keep holding him if he's not going to appear before a judge and the longer I do the more likely that is to come back and bite me in the ass."

Ruby shared a glance with her grandmother and Emma wondered if it was standard for fairytale people to carry on conversations without actually speaking because apparently it was a thing. Then Ruby proceeded to pull a familiar digital camera out from beneath the counter.

"In that case you might want to take this then and pretend you've had it in an evidence locker or something. We kind of checked his to see if he got any pictures but it looks like Granny stopped him in time. The moon is waning and I've got the wolf under control anyway."

"And I talked Mother Superior into dusting up the freezer," Granny added as she shoved finished coffees into the carriers with enough force that Emma was worried the Styrofoam would cave under the pressure. "Least that blue flitwit could do really."

Emma figured there was a story there but if she was going to start her shift by emptying cells she needed to get to it.

"Can't put it off anymore then," she told them. "Could you two let the grapevine know that everyone needs to be on their best behavior till he leaves? Maybe we can all give him the run around and he'll decide to cut his losses."

Sometimes it shocked Emma how embedded into the town she'd become. When had that happened? She felt like she was setting up the plot for an episode of Andy Griffith.

"Gotcha covered," Ruby said.

"And keep an ear to the ground, I still haven't figured out how he knew where to snoop and he's not revealing sources."

"Oh, we'll be doing that," Granny assured her. "You can tell him I put his bags in his car, what with that rule about not harboring criminals."

"Thought that one was just for felons?" Emma grimaced, "I am gonna be in so much trouble if he decides to do a write up on the law enforcement in this town."

"Maybe we should have the Blue Fairy wipe _his_ memory," Ruby suggested.

"If we get really desperate," Emma considered it. "But at this point I really wish everyone would stop screwing around with everyone else's memories. It's a pain in my ass."

"Never a slow day in the savior business, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah," Emma rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the chat Rubes. I guess I better go let our friend go before he decides he can file charges against _me_," she said, collecting her refilled cup and keys from the counter before striding toward the door.

"Anytime," Ruby called after her. "I'll talk to Belle, maybe we'll stop by later this week?"

"Sure!" Emma waved as she exited the diner. "See ya Granny!"

* * *

"What, no food for the prisoner this morning?" Greg, Owen –_Whatever!-_ drawled from his cot as Emma walked into the office and set her coffee and his camera down on the desk.

"You're not a prisoner," Emma said automatically. "And you're not even incarcerated as of this morning. Granny decided not to press charges so you're a free man. I definitely wouldn't head that way for chow though and you're out of a room."

He looked surprised in spite of himself as she unlocked the cell held it open. He pulled his tweed jacket off the end of the cot and slipped passed her.

"Oh yeah, where else does one stop for breakfast around here?" He asked warily.

"There's a McDonald's in Rockland, you should be able to get there before 10:30," Emma replied sweetly.

"Oh, you're not getting rid of me that easily."

"Worth a shot," Emma sighed and moved to the locker where she'd put the rest of his belongings and returned them to him.

"You know the harder you try to get me to go the more I'm convinced there's a story here you don't want me to find," he informed her as he checked his camera and wallet.

Emma scoffed.

"I'm not worried about your story," she assured him. "What does concern me is what you're willing to do to get it. And for the record next time I catch you invading an innocent citizen's privacy and property I won't wait for them to press charges before I haul your ass out of town and drop you so far from civilization your 'story' will be the least of your problems."

"Now Sherriff Swan, there's no reason to go making threats."

Emma rolled her eyes but didn't respond to that, deciding everything that immediately came to mind sounded like she'd gotten it from a bad cop drama. Instead she gestured to the door

"Goodbye Flynn."

For a long moment he looked like he was going to come up with something else to say but as he met Emma's glare he seemed to think better of it and scuttled through the door.

She made her way into her office and dropped into the chair behind the desk. Writers had deadlines right? She hoped now that he'd worn out his welcome at the only place to stay everybody in town would keep their mouths shut and he'd be forced to leave just to keep his job but she didn't dare hope that she'd seen the last of him.

* * *

Later that night, after Henry had gone to bed and the news had finished, Emma shut off the TV and curled up on the couch with the last of the albums and a bottle of beer. She'd been putting off looking at it; partly out of a principled dislike for endings in general but mostly because she wasn't sure she wanted to see the changes 2011 had brought from the perspective of Regina's discerning lens. The albums may have been intended to illustrate Henry's childhood and they had, but Emma felt as though the pictures and notes said as much about Regina as they did about Henry. The woman she'd gotten to know by perusing the books was the mother she had both hoped and feared existed, but the woman she'd met on her birthday over a year ago had been a crude facsimile of the one who had created these albums. Regina and Henry had both changed from the people that albums one through eight portrayed and Emma was both curious and apprehensive of seeing that evolution pictured.

On the other hand she had been dying to know what had changed so drastically that Henry had dubbed his mom the Evil Queen and began to look for his birth mother, the savior, and she had a feeling that this album would be a good start in finding out. So she took a deep sip of her wine and cracked open the leather bound cover.

Year nine started out the same as the others with school pictures as Henry began third grade. There were candid shots of him in class and at home, learning times-tables and practicing cursive and ones of him posing with various art projects and mugging for the camera. Then, about a quarter of the way through the scrapbook there was a noticeable change in the frequency of the pictures and the length of the notes that accompanied them. The dates between pictures began growing further and further apart and Emma noticed that there were more Christmas pictures than there had been in previous albums, as though Regina had used them to make up for the lack of November and January pictures. There were even fewer February through July photos and Emma remembered Henry had told her that Regina had stopped carrying her camera around everywhere because he hadn't let her take his picture anymore.

Henry's soccer pictures in June were the last until his next school picture and the shot of Miss Blanchard's fourth grade class lined up in the school cafeteria. The next page held a few of Henry opening presents on his tenth birthday followed by a few more from Christmas with only the date marking the occasion. Unlike previous years there were no notes detailing what his favorite present and carol had been; no memories jotted down for preservation.

She flipped the page and her chest clenched as though Regina herself had reached in and tried to take her heart. Almost the size of the page itself, the photo was of Emma and Henry sitting at his old castle with their heads together and The Book across their laps. It was a decent picture but it had obviously been taken at a distance and lacked the warmth and flair of Regina's shots so Emma suspected that the photographer had been Sydney Glass, spying on them shortly before the castle depicted on it had been destroyed by the weather. It was the final photo in a book that was less than halfway finished.

Emma wasn't sure whether she was relieved or disappointed that the transition from happy little family had been so abrupt. Despite not really wanting to see Regina and Henry's relationship devolve on the pages before her she had hoped to find a little more evidence as to its cause. Now she was at a loss, wondering if Regina had added the final picture with Emma or Henry as her intended audience. Was it there to remind Emma what she'd taken from Regina, regardless of her promise not to? Or maybe it was Regina's blessing, a final note to Henry that though she was gone he would still have his Emma, just like he wanted.

"Emma?"

Emma craned her neck to see Henry standing on the stairs, clutching his blue patchwork quilt around his shoulders.

"Hey kid, everything okay?"

"Had a nightmare," he said, looking terribly lost and not a little disoriented.

"C'mere," she said, swinging her legs down to make room for him on the couch. That was all it took for him to dart down the final four stairs and burrow into her side. Emma reached out and pulled him into an awkward cuddle. She was at a loss as to what to do next, certain that Regina had had a routine for such things but Emma was just barely beginning to get used to hugging her son. She wasn't sure what he needed after a bad dream.

"You wanna talk about it?" She asked, looking down though all she could see was the top of his shaggy head.

"Dunno," he mumbled.

"Was it the Netherworld again? Do you still have your necklace?"

Henry fumbled under his blankets and his fist popped out a second later, the vial with the dream potion was clutched inside.

"So…not the Netherworld?"

Henry retracted his hand and tightened his cocoon with a sigh. "I don't know. It was different, I don't really remember. I just woke up really scared."

"I'm not very good at this," Emma said apologetically. "What does your mom usually do?"

"Makes me warm milk and sends me back to bed."

"Do you want me to do that?"

"This is okay," he said simply.

"Okay," Emma relaxed, pleased to note that if she wasn't doing this mom thing "right" then at least she wasn't doing it wrong either. She looked at the album she'd discarded on the coffee table and contemplated it in silence, absently rubbing Henry's shoulder as her thoughts wandered back to its contents and the change in the pictures after his ninth birthday.

"Sorry, I know it's dumb to be scared of dreams. It wasn't even because of magic," Henry's uncharacteristically timid voice cut through the quiet.

"Hey, it's not dumb. Everybody has nightmares."

"Even you?"

"Especially me," Emma admitted but hoped he wouldn't press the subject.

"Do you think my mom has nightmares, since she's under a spell?"

Emma pondered it for a second before answering, "No, I don't think the blessing is supposed to work that way. I think it's supposed to make sure she's happy."

"She seems really happy," Henry agreed. "She smiles a lot more."

Emma nodded, they'd covered this already but it seemed to put Henry at ease so she didn't mind that it was a little inane. Besides, hadn't she been thinking the same thing all day?

"Something's making her sad though," Henry told her.

"Why do you say that?"

"At breakfast today we were talking and she looked really sad for a minute, like she used to," he said thoughtfully. "I used to ask what was wrong and she'd always tell me she was fine. She lied a lot."

"Is that why you stopped letting her take your picture? Because you thought she was lying to you?" Emma hadn't intended to get into this now, Henry was already upset and cranky due to his interrupted sleeping schedule, but she didn't think she was going to get a better segue than this if she kept putting it off.

"I knew she was lying to me," Henry insisted crossly.

"About the book?"

"Even before the book."

"Why do you say that?"

Henry sighed again, and sat up so they could talk properly, though he still leaned against Emma unwilling to forgo contact altogether.

"Because it's true."

"Does that have something to do with why you stopped letting her take your picture?"

"Kind of," he admitted. "But not right away."

"Because she lied about not being sad?"

"No," Henry scrubbed his eyes in frustration. After two false starts he began to explain, "Jacen McCandles was my best friend in kindergarten. When I started first grade I wanted to know how come he didn't and Mom told me it was because he'd gotten held back and I believed her. But when the same thing happened in second grade with Mariah Lennox I knew something was up. She always told me that it was because I was so smart but then she stopped coming to my class to read with us and have parties and she stopped letting me play at the other kids' houses. I had a growth spurt and was six inches taller when I started third grade and Jacen was _still_ in kindergarten. I'm not stupid, I knew I was getting older and the other kids weren't. At first I thought Mom just didn't realize, because none of the other teachers did either, but I knew she was hiding something. She kept lying about it and she started making me talk to Archie. We just…quit having fun, so I didn't want my picture taken anymore."

"Is that how you knew she was the Evil Queen?"

"No, it took me a _long_ time to figure that out," Henry said. "For a long time I thought it was Mrs. Audley who runs the city council, but she's Ashley's stepmother and I figured out Ashley was Cinderella so that ruled her out. And then I found out I was adopted and finally realized that my mom knew why I was growing up when none of the other kids were and she was lying to me to protect the curse. Her curse."

"I see," Emma said because she couldn't think of a better response.

"Breakfast was fun. I'm glad you and Elena were both there. I miss my mom Emma," Henry whispered, as if it was a secret and not something Emma agonized over thirty-seven times a day.

"I know you do kid," she sighed.

"Do you think she made the wish because of me?"

"What?" Emma asked sharply, nearly bumping him away in her effort to look at him directly.

"I think she made the wish because of Archie, because she thought that I think that she killed him."

"Kid," Emma started to protest but Henry cut her off.

"No! Grandma and Grandpa didn't tell her he was alive and we weren't there when Cora came, so she helped stop Cora and made the wish so she wouldn't remember me because nobody wanted her and Grandma and Grandpa wanted to punish her."

"Henry I really don't think that's true."

"Don't you?" He twisted to face her and his eyes seemed to cut through her very soul and find every doubt and worry she had that breaking the blessing might not be the right thing to do. She clamped her mouth shut and met his gaze, remembering with painful clarity what Ruby had said about the lies told to protect people being the ones that hurt most.

Regina had said that she'd helped put her mother under the sleeping curse but Snow and David had still deemed it necessary to punish her for the damage Cora had caused, which made no sense unless Snow and David thought Regina had helped cause it. That didn't seem too far outside the realm of possibility to Emma, her parents seemed to believe that Regina's natural tendency was toward destruction. They'd been quick enough to pin Archie's apparent murder on her. But, even despite fairly compelling evidence in their favor, they had been wrong. Maybe they had jumped to conclusions again, maybe Regina had wished for the fairy blessing to rewrite history _before_ Snow and David could punish her once more for something she hadn't done.

Regina hadn't asked, in either of her letters, for Henry and Emma to undo the magic, punishment or not. She also hadn't hinted at whether or not the punishment was deserved or at least just. Maybe Regina _had_ thought a new life with new memories would be a blessing. Maybe she finally had her happy ending and would be pissed off if Emma thwarted it yet again. Though Emma was pretty sure that if she woke up and found out much Henry had missed her Regina would probably forgive her. Maybe.

"Henry, I know Regina would _never_ have wished to forget you," she told him adamantly. "But you're right, I think she might have really wished for the blessing."

"Does that mean we shouldn't undo it?" Henry asked, his face scrunched in consternation that made him, for just a moment, actually look like the eleven-year-old he was and not someone much wiser, with more experience.

"I think you should try," Emma told him honestly. "I think she'll want to remember you, and she'll want to know you love her."

"But if it doesn't work?" Henry fretted.

"Then we'll worry about that when it happens," Emma told him. She had exactly zero ideas to undo the magic otherwise. It wasn't like Regina had any other true loves loitering about and without Regina Emma had no idea how to get Gold's memories back to ask him. Unless Belle had a copy of _Blessing Breaking for Dumb Saviors_ stashed away in her library Emma would be at a dead end.

"Do you think Saturday's too soon to try?"

"I think it might be a little weird to just lay one on her, even after your 'date' this morning," Emma observed. "Maybe you should try dinner."

Henry scowled at her.

"Sorry, kid," she said.

"I figured," Henry groaned as he relaxed back into the couch.

"Can we watch cartoons? I want to think about something happy for a while."

Midnight had come and gone and she knew that even Henry would have a hard time waking up in the morning if he didn't get some sleep but she had enough experience with nightmares to know that Henry was in dour need of some whimsy. Especially after their conversation.

"Sure thing," she agreed and leaned forward to grab the remote off the coffee table. She surfed through channels until she found cartoons instead of infomercials. Then she snuggled back under the blankets to watch with her son.

Three hours later the television turned itself off automatically, but the two people sound asleep on the couch didn't stir.

* * *

**Notes: **_I had a plan for this chapter and the muses hated it. I think we've worked it out but who even knows? In any case, thank you for your patience and for reading! _


	9. Learning

**Notes: **_We're trying notes at the beginning instead of the end now. Change is good or so they tell me? This is the longest chapter yet, I'm still not sure how it got that way. I'm happy to say the rest of this now has a solid plan and we're not quite half way through. I don't have a beta so all mistakes are mine and constructive criticism is welcomed. Reviews of all kinds are appreciated and stored away with great care and lots of happy feelings, so if the mood strikes you feed the muses please. Unless the physical appearance of the please makes a difference in which case: pretty please. Thanks for reading!_

_Mood music for this chapter would be _Jessica's Theme_ from _The Man From Snowy River._ Totes appropriate, trust me._

* * *

**Learning**

Emma slowly shifted to consciousness and registered the familiar sound of coffee percolating. The rich aroma seeped into her bedroom through the cracked door as gently as a mother's whisper and pulled her from warm dreams to the waking world.

The air outside her comforter was crisp and her alarm wasn't set to go off for another three minutes. She was tempted to snuggle down and hit snooze at least once but that smell was beckoning stronger now that she recognized it and impossible to resist.

She shimmied across the bed and out of the covers, leaving them as un-rumpled as possible because she had zero desire to actually make the bed. She paused to throw on some pants to avoid further traumatizing Henry and shuffled out of the room.

"Hi kid," she mumbled to her son who was zipping around the kitchen, assembling cold cereal for breakfast.

Henry grinned up at her, but contained his energy and didn't say anything in reply. They'd settled into a routine after two weeks at home and he knew she'd be more coherent and pleasant once she had some fuel and her brain finished its start-up cycle.

"You made coffee," Emma said after pouring a cup and taking a gulp even though it was still hovering at the boiling point. It was worth it, the heat and caffeine spread through her like a flame through gas, perking up her senses along with the buds on her tongue.

"Yep," Henry said proudly as he climbed onto a bar stool and started shoveling heaping spoonful's of cereal into his mouth.

"Where'd you learn to do that?"

"Gramps taught me," he said around a mouthful of food. "I asked after school yesterday, I thought maybe it would make waking up today easier."

"Neat trick," she quipped and ruffled his hair.

She plopped onto the stool next to him and poured her own bowl of cereal. For a few minutes the chorus of crunching was the only sound in the apartment.

"You sleep okay?" Emma asked, signaling that she was fully awake and prepared to converse in full sentences.

"Pretty good yeah," he shrugged and lifted his bowl to slurp up the last of the chocolaty milk. It had been two nights since his nightmare but both nights Emma had noticed that he'd stayed up reading later than he usually did.

"So when can we leave?" He changed the subject, eager to focus on the event of the day: riding, rather than sleeping troubles.

"Hold your horses cowboy, Elena's not expecting us until nine and I've gotta have a shower."

Henry let out his most beleaguered sigh and made a show of rolling his eyes. Emma stood and cleared both their bowls while Henry put the cereal back in the cupboard over the stove.

"I got the dishes, go shower," Henry nudged her away from the sink.

"Hey, you gotta get dressed too."

"Yeah, but it doesn't take me seven years to do it," Henry pointed out. "Get going, this offer is limited time only."

"Yeah right, "Emma said, but she started back towards her bedroom anyway. "Apparently all I have to do to motivate you for chores is put horses on the line."

"Are you saying I'm easy?"

Emma snorted, "You said it not me."

"Well, don't let it get around," Henry mock-grumbled.

"Oh, please. Elena's already figured you out. She's gonna put you to work mucking stables."

"Really?"

Emma groaned.

"That means shoveling sh—poop kid."

"Would you hurry up and shower?" He demanded, completely unperturbed by the prospect. Typical.

Emma was tempted to flip him the bird but reminded herself that she was supposed to be a responsible parent and that if they got Regina back and she found out Henry had picked that up from her then Emma would definitely be getting up close and personal with the Evil Queen.

"Just for that I'm taking an extra-long one," she said instead, just to rile him up. Henry wasn't the sparring partner Regina had been but it was still fun to get a rise out of him now and again.

"Don't make me leave without you!" He threatened as she disappeared into the bedroom.

"It'll take you longer to bike there than it will to wait for me," she yelled back.

"Who said anything about biking? I'll take the bug."

"Good luck with that." She was pretty sure he couldn't drive stick. Almost sure. A little bit sure.

Maybe she would skip curling her hair today. Just in case.

* * *

"Think she's in the barn already?"

"Probably," Emma sighed. They were fifteen minutes early but since she'd been ready Henry saw no reason to linger at home.

"_Early is on time," _he'd told her, "and_ on time is late."_

"_Doesn't that mean you're late no matter what you do?"_ Emma had mumbled, certain he'd picked up the saying from Regina just to irritate her. But she'd let him drag her out the door before she even finished zipping her blue leather jacket up over her grey sweater.

Henry's excitement was _almost_ contagious but she couldn't say she was looking forward to this. She'd spent her share of time on thrill seeking recreation in between jobs but she'd always erred to the side of the mechanical kind, preferring motorcycles and jet skis to the prospect of climbing on an animal for an adrenaline rush. She figured if she had to do this savior thing then she was going to do it with a rusty bug, not a trusty steed.

They headed in the main door as they had twice before and Henry promptly ditched her to say hello to his horse. Emma smiled fondly at him and headed around the corner, passed the display case and to the open door of Elena's office. She grasped the door frame and leaned inside. She hadn't seen it before but it was nearly as big as her own. A plush sofa occupied the wall in front of the door, with a brightly patterned, woven blanket draped over the back. On the other wall was a row of filing cabinets and a desk that had seen better days. Elena was sitting at it, turned away from Emma, staring a laptop through horn rimmed glasses.

"Hey, you're here!" Elena started when she noticed Emma hanging in her doorway, pushing away from her desk and tugging the glasses off.

"We're here," Emma confirmed.

"How are you?" She asked as she closed her laptop and joined Emma in the corridor, flicking the lights in the office off on her way out.

"Great!" Henry announced as they joined him and Emma just grinned because he had enough exuberance for both of them.

"Happy to hear it, shall we?" Elena motioned vaguely between the stalls and their small group. "We have about two hours before your sister and brother-in-law show up, I think that's plenty of time to get you comfortable on the horses."

"Great," Emma echoed Henry's statement with much less enthusiasm.

"Henry, why don't you get started with Apollo –see how much you remember from Monday's lesson and I'll get your- Emma going," Elena instructed.

"Excellent!" The boy crowed and scampered off in search of a halter and tack for his favorite mount.

"Shall we?" Elena asked, turning towards Emma with an inviting smile and eyes filled with mirth.

Emma found she couldn't say no, or even produce her usual sarcastic response to that look so she shoved her hands deep into her back pockets, raised her eyebrows and gave Elena a smile that she hoped was agreeable (though it turned out to be more of a grimace that suggested she was resigned to her fate).

"Don't worry about being nervous," Elena whispered kindly, "Horses can be intimidating but by the end of the day you'll have fallen in love, I promise."

"Hmm, sounds like you're propositioning me," Emma cracked and forced herself to drop her hands and exude more confidence than she felt.

"Maybe I am," Elena sassed back with a cheeky cock to her eyebrow as they followed Henry to the riding equipment.

"Hey, I remember this much," Emma said, stopping the brunette as she went for a purple rope halter and reaching around her to pull it off its hook. She swaggered back to the line of stalls and peered inside each one until she found the horse she was looking for, the palomino named Sarabi who Elena had insisted was her nicest horse.

"Not her." Elena's voice halted Emma before she could open Sarabi's stall.

"But –"

Elena shook her head with a soft smile and understanding in her eyes.

"Saturdays are her day off," she explained. "She's one of my old girls and she gets plenty of exercise with the children at lessons. Why don't you try this one…"

She crossed the breezeway and tugged a stall door open. Emma cast a forlorn look at the docile golden horse in the stall she'd picked and wandered over to Elena.

"This is Sue," Elena said, motioning inside towards the bay that was casually munching on hay in the corner of the stable. "He's very friendly and he has enough energy to show you around today."

Emma peered over Elena's shoulder at the horse in question. "_He_ is named Sue? Mary Margaret warned me about stallions you know."

"Then it's a good thing Sue here is a gelding like Apollo." Elena stepped inside and gave Sue a pat on his shoulder. "Trust me, he's your boy."

"Apparently that's debatable," Emma mumbled but she stepped inside the stable and up to the horse anyway.

"Hey," Elena scolded, "A little respect for his life choices if you please."

"Sorry," the blonde said as she gave Sue's neck a scratch and slipped the halter over his head.

"Nicely done," Elena congratulated her as Emma led the horse out of its stall and tied it neatly to the post outside.

Emma preened over dramatically and strode back to the tack area to retrieve grooming tools as well as a saddle and blanket. She noticed Henry was already done cleaning Apollo's feet and nearly finished combing the horse.

"Hey, this isn't a race," she teased as her son scrambled over the horse with his brush and curry comb. Henry craned his neck to shoot her a grin but didn't slow his brisk, but thorough, grooming.

Emma picked up her own pace and began matching Henry's movements as she groomed Sue and ensured that his feet were clean and ready for a workout.

"Well," Elena said as she supervised the two, "I can see I'm not needed just yet. I'll get my own horse."

Emma spared her a parting glance as she sashayed back down the corridor; looking that good in a pair of old jeans should be illegal. Emma forced her attention back to the horse, determined to prove that she didn't need any more instruction than having observed Henry's lessons in equine care.

She succeeded; by the time Henry had Apollo saddled and ready to go Emma had completed everything but putting Sue's bridle on. She held the item awkwardly and realized she'd been talking to Mary Margaret when Elena had gone over this step during her lesson.

She knew the metal bit went between the horse's teeth and the loop around its head but she wasn't quite sure how to go about convincing Sue that it needed to be done. Every time she approached the animal with the contraption he gave her the side-eye and leaned away.

_Come on Swan, little kids can do this._ Her inner pep talk did nothing to convince the horse, or herself for that matter, that the step was a necessary one.

"None of them like this part much." Emma felt more than heard Elena step back into her workspace.

The brunette tugged Sue's lead rope and brought the horse's head over with perfunctory skill and slipped two fingers of her left hand back into his mouth.

"If you press here he'll open his mouth just enough to slide the bit in, don't worry about his teeth he'll open up, and once you've got it in he'll let you finish with no trouble."

Emma smirked but resisted snapping off any of the innuendos that sprang to her mind.

She flipped the halter backwards over her wrist, holding the bit in her left hand she took Sue's lead rope firmly with her right.

"All right boy," she murmured in a low voice that she hoped was soothing to her would-be steed. "Take it easy, we're going to do this and you're not going to give me any trouble."

She poked her index and middle finger into the horse's cheek like Elena had showed her.

"That's the way. See it's not so bad for both of us. And Henry's happy so we're happy, right?" she continued as she brought the bit up, awkwardly but surely, to Sue's mouth and pressed it into the tiny gap between his teeth. She felt it bump and winced because it couldn't have been pleasant but the horse did as Elena said and opened his mouth wider to accept the bit. It clanked against his teeth but he didn't seem to mind as she settled it into place toward the back of his mouth.

"Perfect, you're good at this," Elena said and even though Emma was pretty sure she said that to all of her students she basked in the light praise.

Once the bit was in it was easy to slip the head stall behind Sue's ears and buckle it under his chin. With that, Emma had officially saddled her first horse and was ready to move on to more difficult tasks like riding and mounting. She realized this at precisely the same time that she turned toward Henry and Elena to show off her accomplishment and the proud smile slipped from her face as soon as it had started to show.

"To the arena?" Henry asked gleefully, all excitement and no sympathy for his blonde mother's plight.

"To the arena," Elena confirmed. In the time it had taken Emma to put on Sue's blanket and saddle she had collected her own horse, another bay called Quigley, and put on all his tack.

Emma copied her movements with Sue as Elena unhooked Quigley's lead rope and used the reins to pull him toward the barn door. Together the three of them led their mounts down the cobbled breezeway and out towards the arena. Emma noticed with a little concern that Elena hadn't closed the arena gate behind them but she tried to trust the brunette, who by blessing or natural ability seemed to have an understanding with her animals, and followed her into the sandy circle where Henry had already stopped his horse and was hauling a foot into the stirrup to climb on.

She watched her son, cursing herself for having not paid more attention during this part of his lesson as well, but the process seemed simple enough: stop horse, stirrup foot, climb up. But Emma still felt Elena's scrutinizing gaze on her back as she attempted the process and felt like she had in grade school when the teacher had called her up to do a math problem on the chalk board and everyone had watched to see if she'd fail.

She did.

Sue sidestepped as Emma tried to put weight on her left foot and she had to hop to avoid being dragged along.

"The hell?" She yanked on the leather rein and Sue promptly straightened up and stood still. "I thought we had an understanding you traitor!"

"Twist your foot just a bit," Elena said from somewhere to Emma's right. "He's not used to people trying to get on that way."

Emma didn't have a clue what that meant, as far as she was concerned she'd followed Henry's example to the letter and Sue was just being a pain in the ass. But she did what Elena said and turned her foot clockwise in the stirrup until she was nearly facing Sue's backside before she made another attempt. This time he held still as she threw all her weight onto her left foot and pushed up with her right. The world seemed to tilt on its axis and when she'd regained her bearings Emma was sitting comfortably astride Sue's back in her saddle; facing the right way even.

"Way to go Emma!" Henry crowed, joining Elena's own praise.

She grinned gathered up the reins while Sue licked his bit in boredom as if to say Emma's achievement wasn't all that impressive. But no one was paying attention to him anyway.

"Well you've made it through the hardest part," Elena informed that both. "Now all you have to do is stay on."

The grin drained off Emma's face.

"Staying on is supposed to be the easy part?"

"Well, if you weren't on such well trained horses," Elena sniffed, "I'd be worried about you, but I think you'll do alright Sheriff."

Looking at her in that moment, disdain written across the brunette's features, Emma could believe that Elena was Regina, that they were each in each other somewhere, but then Elena grinned and the mayor was gone once more.

"Come on, it's easy from here on out I promise," Elena said as she laced her fingers through her own reins to show Emma and Henry how to hold them properly.

"Now, what's the first rule of riding horses?" She asked.

"Stay in the saddle," Henry chirped dutifully.

"And the second rule?"

"Don't ever let go of the reins."

Elena looked at Emma expectantly.

"Capisce?"

Emma sketched a mock salute. She found the leather strips felt natural in her hand, her nervousness dissipated now that she was actually on her horse and it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be.

"We'll start off just walking around the arena," Elena said as if it was a spontaneous suggestion and not something she'd been planning to teach them for ages. "Relax; it's just a casual stroll among friends."

That was precisely how it felt when Emma followed her example and nudged Sue gently with her heels and he fell into step between Apollo and Quigley. The motion wasn't as jostling as Emma had thought it would be and she found herself settling into the horse's rhythm as they completed a lap around the arena.

"Henry, remember to lower your heels. And don't schlump like this." Elena demonstrated, dropping her shoulders dramatically.

Henry straightened up. He overcorrected his posture and Emma imagined him adopting the same haughty pose every time Regina had corrected his posture growing up.

"Now you're too stiff, you'll bounce right off," Elea chided.

Henry's expression fell at the admonishment and Emma was just about to come to his defense when Elena spoke up again.

"You've got to have good form if you're going to be my guinea pig again on Monday."

Elena raised her right hand high above her head like a teacher's pet aching to be called upon.

"Try this," she said. Henry immediately copied her movement, though he wasn't sure why he was doing so.

"Feel how that changes your seat?" She asked.

Emma watched as Henry thought for a moment, stretching his arm further in the air and then dropping back down as he tried to tell the difference in his position. He eventually nodded.

"Keep your center of gravity pressed into the saddle just like that and relax your hips."

Henry did as he was told as Emma silently made sure she was mirroring his posture. Henry must have complied because Elena seemed pleased with the change in his stance and left them both to get used to the rocking movement of the horses as they completed another lap around the arena.

"That's how you always need to sit. You're in sync with Apollo; you want to match his timing. That will help you stay balanced in the saddle no matter what he does. Keep your heels down and adjust your weight on your toes."

"Emma, your timing is exceptional," Elena said as she scrutinized the blonde. "But if you don't relax a little he's going to think you want him to trot."

"Uh, I'm pretty sure if I relax he's going to trot," Emma told her. She held on tighter with her legs and pulled back the reins a little. She was comfortable with the moderately slow walk they had started out with but now her horse was prancing every few steps, putting up some resistance to her hold and generally being a little shit. _Or a big shit_, she decided when Sue flexed his neck to tug against the reins.

"That's because you're telling him you're ready to go faster."

"That is definitely exactly the opposite of what I'm telling him to do."

"No, it's not," Elena said firmly, a hint of Regina's total indefatigability coming through in her tone. "You're tensing your legs and pitching your center of gravity forward because you're nervous. He's picking up on that and interprets it as 'faster, run.' So if you want to do that, by all means carry on, but if you'd prefer to stay here with us then you need to drop your hands and fix your posture."

Several arguments loaded on Emma's tongue, but when she shot Elena a dirty look and opened her mouth to fire them they all fell away to the breeze. Elena was watching her, eyes imploring Emma to listen, her own posture was effortlessly graceful, at once at ease and regal, and her horse was ambling on passively. On her other side Henry was also watching Emma expectantly, though his attention was divided between his blonde mother and his own mount.

Emma deflated and forced her body to follow Elena's instructions, daring herself to put some trust in the woman when she'd never been quite able to do the same for Regina. Sue responded almost immediately, settling amiably back into a slower pace to match his compatriots.

"There, you see," Elena said and Emma would have been grating had it not been devoid of any smugness. Instead it was a gentle reminder to pay attention to the effect her body language had on her horse.

"Most of what your horse does is directly related to what you're telling it, whether you're doing it verbally or physically," the trainer explained as she guided Quigley into more complicated patterns across the arena while Emma and Henry did their best to follow. "Riding is fairly simple but it's going to take you time and practice to learn how to communicate effectively with your horse. Just like with any relationship."

"That's why David said it's so important to groom them," Henry piped up, "To build a relationship."

"Exactly," Elena said with a pleased smile and Henry beamed back at her. Emma rolled her eyes at both of them.

"Can we try going faster now?" Henry asked eagerly.

"Sure, if you feel comfortable. Be ready to bounce a little. Remember to keep your weight on your toes and your heels down. Bend your knees and squeeze with your legs."

Henry complied immediately and after one false start he managed to coax Apollo into a bumpy trot.

"Put more weight on your legs," Elena instructed the boy. "Like this."

Emma and Henry both watched as Elena directed her horse to pick up its pace. As the horse began to high-step quickly she hovered in her saddle, using her legs to counter the choppy motion.

She completed a circle around them and then slowed her horse next to Emma's to see Henry try. Both women had their eyes glued to the boy as he floundered to find the correct combination of movements and Emma wondered if this was how Regina had felt when he'd first learned to walk or ride a bike. When Henry caught on without bouncing off first Emma nearly sighed with relief.

"Well done Henry, you've got it."

"This is fun!" He called as he lapped them once and then twice.

"Are you going to try?" Elena asked Emma.

"I can't just stick to easy mode?"

"Well, not if you're going to keep up with him," she laughed.

"Story of my life," Emma grumbled. "All right, Sue, you heard the lady, let's do this."

She gripped one rein in each hand and squeezed her heels into Sue's sides then pressed herself up as his gait changed. Her heart skipped a beat at the unsettling motion but she got used to it quickly, posting her weight in time to his movements. She was surprised; it was actually kind of fun.

Sue's quick trot seemed to eat up the dirt and in no time they had caught up to Henry. He glanced back at her and urged Apollo faster, his smile faltering for a brief second when he almost lost his rhythm but he recovered quickly and giggled as they sped away. Not to be outdone Emma matched his pace and rambled after, easily adjusting to the change in motion. He had a thirty foot lead on Emma but she was determined to catch up. She nudged Sue again with her knees and was startled when he broke into a canter.

"Weight on your toes Emma!" She heard Elena call after her. She corrected and crowed as she passed Henry.

Henry and Emma continued to practice, pushing for greater speeds in a continuous quest to one-up each other as if they were both experienced riders rather than total novices. Emma's enthusiasm grew steadily with the competition, her initial nervousness completely forgotten. What she lacked in grace she made up for with athleticism. Henry had evidently inherited that, because he matched her skills with little trouble.

They both laughed as they wound figure eights around Elena who had stopped her horse in the middle of the arena to watch them. Emma caught up to her son and reached out to tag him as their horses jogged, neck and neck.

"You're it!" She cried, tapping Sue with her legs to push him faster.

Henry, now the one in pursuit, giggled wildly when he caught up and tagged her back. He tugged one rein and Apollo leaned into a hard turn and shot away in the opposite direction.

"Be careful," Elena warned as she watched Henry struggle to stay balanced through the turn. He grinned at her in spite of it and reined his horse to a stop, keeping Elena between him and Emma. Quigley counted his foot nervously as the other two horses circled him.

"Horses aren't toys," she started to lecture both her students, "You aren't very experienced and I really can't condone…

She broke off as Emma breezed by, her hand grazing Elena's arm as she passed.

"Henry?" Elena said to the boy waiting to see what she would do.

"Yeah?"

"Don't try this in class." Elena whooped and launched Quigley after Emma.

At the other end of the arena Emma had stalled Sue to watch Elena and Henry and laughed as Elena's lecture fell on deaf ears but her laughter died in her throat when she saw Elena hunker over Quigley's neck and the horse raced toward her faster than such a huge animal had any right to.

"Run Emma!" Henry yelled from his spot in the middle and Emma urged Sue into motion.

They lapped the fence once but Elena cheated and cut across the middle, completing a turn that forced her and Quigley almost horizontal with ease and Emma knew there was no way in hell she could out maneuver her. So she did the next best thing and bolted out of the arena, grateful now that Elena had neglected to close the gate.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Henry demanded, following at a slightly slower pace as Elena charged after Emma, toward the barn and through the dirt parking area. He tugged Apollo to a stop once more so he could watch his mothers race around the yard.

Emma had a manic grin on her face as she haphazardly steered her horse while glancing over her shoulder to check where Elena was.

The brunette was smiling too, like a shark toying with its prey. She straightened in her saddle as her horse loped after and waited for Emma to make a fatal mistake. It didn't take long. Emma tried to make a quick switch in direction like Elena had in the arena, but just as Henry had struggled to complete the same feat so did his blonde mother.

"Whoa!" Emma cried and grabbed her saddle horn as Sue wheeled around. The horse didn't know whether to stop or not so he pranced and trotted considerably slower than he had been. Elena seized the opportunity to rocket forward and barrel by Emma, slapping her shoulder as she passed.

Emma hung her head in defeat but she laughed and let Sue stop. He was panting and sweat coated his neck.

"Good try boy," Emma praised as she patted his wet shoulder, breathless herself from the effort.

"I think you've been holding out on me," Elena announced as she returned to Emma's side, her own horse in the same worked up state as Sue. "You picked this up much faster than I thought you would."

"It's in the blood," Henry informed her, joining them.

"It's kind of a rush," Emma said grinning; her whole body buzzed with adrenaline.

"And to think you were nervous when you got here," Elena chided merrily.

"Well I wasn't nervous exactly," Emma defended. "I mean, the idea climbing five feet off the ground and riding something with a mind of its own was a little off-putting, but this isn't so bad."

"I think it's awesome," Henry said, wheeling Apollo around for another quick lap around the yard that left both horse and boy breathing hard.

"I think we'd better let them have a break," Elena said with a laugh as she dismounted. "I thought we'd spend the entire time getting you comfortable enough with walking to go for an easy ride with your family."

"Clearly you underestimated what we're capable of," Emma smirked.

"Clearly," Elena echoed dryly.

They waited for Henry to dismount and then led their horses back to the barn and the bathtub sized water trough in front of the haystack. Elena stood to the side while Quigley lowered his head to take a drink.

"Henry you can bring Apollo up on the other side," she offered and Henry took her up on it. He leaned against the fence surrounding the hay barn.

"Tired already?"

"Nope, just leaning," he replied, scratching Apollo's shoulder affectionately.

Quigley finished and Elena pulled him to the side to allow Emma and Sue forward.

"You're a really amazing," Henry told Elena, filling the comfortable silence. Emma gave him a strange look over her shoulder, something in his tone alerting her that the kid had something on his mind.

Elena accepted the praise graciously, seeming oblivious to the change in Henry's mood.

"When did you start riding?"

"When I was very small," Elena replied, Emma heard her tone change too and wondered what memories Elena was thinking of. Were they hers or Regina's? Or both? "My father started carrying me with him before I could even walk."

The small offering did little to assuage Emma's own questions and she could tell it had only piqued Henry's curiosity more but it was also clear that getting Elena to open up about her memories would be difficult.

It was Sue who prevented Henry from pursuing the topic further. Having decided he was finished with his beverage the horse decided that the best way to inform Emma so was to raise his head and snort in her direction, spraying cold drops of water across her neck and side.

"Yeeagghh!" She yelped and hopped away.

Elena and Henry both laughed and Emma scowled at Sue and then each of them in turn as she used her sleeve to wipe horse-face water off her skin.

"Sorry," Elena chuckled, not at all apologetic.

"Guess that's what he thinks of you," Henry quipped.

"Aw c'mon," Emma pulled the reins so Sue was looking at her. "I thought we had an understanding?"

Sue snorted again and shook his head as if in response to her question.

"You're like the anti-horse whisperer," Henry snickered.

"See if I bring you out here anymore," Emma grumbled.

Convinced that he seemed to have lost her attention Sue stepped forward and rubbed his nose against her shoulder, nearly shoving her off her feet.

"Hey!" Emma realized her mistake as the horse jerked backwards, tugging the reins out of her hand but she snatched them back just as quickly.

"Hey," She said again, dropping her voice to what she hoped was a more soothing tone. She reached out with her free hand, letting him sniff it before running blunt nails across his forehead, gently itching under the strap there.

"Is that all you wanted? Just a good scratch? See, I've got ya now buddy, we do have an understanding. We're learning to communicate right? Building a relationship. Henry's just jealous 'cause it's taken him weeks and Apollo still thinks he smells funny."

She spared her son a glance just in time to see him roll his eyes and heard Elena chuckling behind her back.

"If you're quite finished mocking me," Elena began dryly, "Perhaps we should go back in the barn. David and Mary Margaret will be here any minute."

"I would_ never_ mock you," Emma sounded appalled, "Oh great and knowledgeable horse lady."

"Ha!"

Elena grasped the handle of one of the giant barn doors there and threw her weight backwards to slide it open far enough to allow them to enter. Henry, Emma and their steeds slipped inside and Emma turned to hold the door for Elena to do the same. She braced her arm, trying not to let the strain show on her face. She surprised at the effort it took thinking Elena had just made a show of opening it. Regina had always had a thing for dramatic entrances.

"Thank you," the brunette said primly as she squeezed by.

"Can I give Apollo some apples?" Henry asked, stalling Emma's next attempt at witty repartee. Maybe it was for the best.

"Absolutely, why don't you bring some back for Sue and Quigley too?"

"Okay!" Henry bounded off with Apollo rambling after him like an overgrown puppy.

Elena led Quigley back towards his stall and tied him up to remove his tack.

"You're sure you don't want to join us?" Emma asked, watching her work. "I'm sure Mary Margaret packed more than enough food for all of us."

"No, it's family time," Elena answered resolutely as she began to run brush over Quigley's back.

"You can be part of family time," Henry said, joining them once more. Emma was glad he'd returned so quickly so she wouldn't have to say it herself.

Elena smiled but didn't meet his gaze. She focused on her work while he fed Quigley and Sue treats from his pockets. Apollo nickered from the stall where Henry had left him tied up, obviously concerned that there were treats to be had and he wasn't getting some.

"Thank you, Henry. Perhaps next time."

"You're not afraid we're going to run off with your horses?" Emma asked though she knew the idea was ridiculous.

It wasn't like they could leave Storybrooke with David and Mary Margaret in tow. She couldn't forget the half-broken curse entirely, or the oddness of her situation. Not when she had spent the morning constantly reminding herself that Elena wasn't who she should be. But for just a moment it was nice to pretend at normality.

"Where would you go?" Elena scoffed.

Emma shrugged.

"I'll send you with a walkie so you can radio if you have any trouble," Elena told them. "They'll work as long as you stay within a two-mile radius."

"We have to stay close by anyway, David and I are on call on Saturdays; if there's an emergency in town we need to be able to get there quickly."

"Well, then I hope all emergencies can wait until you've had your outing."

"Storybrooke has been pretty quiet lately." Emma hoped she wasn't jinxing herself. "On the weekends people can get their own cats out of trees."

"Awfully polite of them."

"Quite."

"You're mocking me again."

"Was I?"

Elena twisted to give her a droll look. Henry watched the two of them like a tennis match and Emma sharply reminded herself to quit flirting. It was hard to resist.

"Hello?" Mary Margaret's voice echoed through the barn, shattering the moment.

"Hi!" Henry greeted them happily and hugged his grandparents in turn as they entered. "Guess what we've been doing?"

Mary Margaret looked questioningly from Henry to Emma as he darted back over to his mothers.

"We thought we'd get a little head start on this horse thing," Emma explained, gesturing to Sue with the hand that held his reins. "Elena was kind enough to get us going and show us the basics."

Emma thought she saw hurt flutter across both of her parents' faces but they each broke into smiles and she convinced herself she imagined it; trying to repress the feeling that she'd done something wrong.

"Excellent!" David said, and it didn't sound forced. "Maybe we can hit the trails right away then?"

"I think they're both ready," Elena confirmed. "If all of the children in my classes master skills as quickly as they do I'll be out of a job before I know it."

"You'll just have to put up with a herd of people clamoring to borrow your horses on the weekends," Mary Margaret said kindly.

"Or we could buy horses and keep them here?" Henry suggested.

"Don't let Apollo hear you say that," Emma joked.

Henry shrugged. "I still ride him too."

"I think we'd better see how you do riding out in the open first," David said, clapping Henry on the shoulder with a proud look.

"Let's get you going then," Elena interjected. "Henry can you get David and Mary Margaret some equipment?"

"I'll help," David told him, clasping his shoulder as they walked toward the tack area.

Elena put Quigley away with a final pat and led them to another stall. It didn't take them long to get two more horses, a palomino mare called Monroe and a white gelding named Lightyear, saddled up and ready to go for them and transfer the lunch Mary Margaret had packed from a basket to saddlebags that Elena helpfully added to the tack for Monroe.

"You're all set," Elena announced as she tied the leather bag shut.

"Thank you so much for letting us do this," Mary Margaret told her. "And for helping Emma and Henry earlier."

"It was my pleasure," Elena assured her, turning to Henry. "We had a lot of fun didn't we?"

He nodded vigorously and beamed when she winked at him and Emma caught herself grinning like a fool as she collected Sue and rejoined the group.

"Let's get going then," David said as if they'd all stand around staring at each other if he didn't lead them out and Emma suppressed the irritation that rippled through her at his tone.

They followed him out of the barn, horses trailing behind them. Emma twisted when she felt hard plastic pressed into her hand. It was the promised radio, she realized as she tightened her fingers around it.

"Thanks," she said bashfully, her wrist tingling where Elena's thumb brushed it because she hadn't quite let go of the walkie in Emma's hand.

"You're welcome. Just holler if you need anything," Elena said warmly. "Be safe and please try to refrain from playing tag out in the forest. It really is dangerous."

Emma gave her a rueful grin. "Mary Margaret and David aren't as fun to chase anyway."

A brilliant smile broke over Elena's face, bright as the dawn over the ocean, sending a burst of happiness that spread from the center of Emma's chest to the tips of her fingers; more thrilling than even the rush of energy she'd felt after their game of tag. Emma had long since admitted to herself that she found Regina attractive; seductive in the way dangerous things often were. But in that moment the brunette was beyond gorgeous, absolutely dazzling, and she knew she'd do anything to put that smile on her face again; even if the blessing broke and Regina's dark and tragic history returned to her.

Especially if the blessing broke.

"I'll say," Elena replied coyly as she finally released the walkie and stepped back. The tingling in Emma's wrist left and she already missed the warmth.

"Emma, are you coming?" Henry's voice broke the spell and Emma shook her head to clear it. Suddenly missing her curls; ponytails may be practical but Emma felt exposed without the tumble of hair around her shoulders.

"Thanks again," she said as she shot Elena an apologetic look and clipped the walkie to her belt and tugged Sue out of the barn, leaving Elena alone in the doorway.

Everyone else had already mounted up and Emma quickly moved to do the same, climbing aboard Sue as though she'd done it a hundred times and not just once before. She felt Mary Margaret and David watching her closely. Pride shone on both their faces as she successfully joined them and even though they irked her endlessly, as they tried to figure out how to be parents to a daughter they hadn't known for twenty-eight years, Emma was glad she'd found them, and that she could at least do this small thing to make them happy.

David clicked his tongue and turned his horse toward the road, setting a leisurely pace with Mary Margaret at his side with Emma and Henry trailing behind. Henry waved back to Elena and Emma turned to see her standing in the barn, with one arm hugged around her middle as she waved back at him with a broad smile. Emma smiled back over her shoulder and waved too but turned before she could actually meet Elena's eyes.

The moment in the barn now seemed unsettling as they rode off without her and Emma couldn't help wishing she had come even as she told herself to quit being a twit about Regina. But the more time they spent with her the better off Henry's mission would go right? Of course that was the reason Emma wanted her along.

"We'll take the trail through the woods and find a place to have lunch and then we have a surprise," David announced as they turned off the road and followed an overgrown path to the forest.

"What's the surprise?" Henry asked.

"If I tell you it's not a surprise," David laughed.

Henry made a show of sulking but Emma doubted the kid was very disappointed. He seemed like the type who loved surprises, but loved guessing at them even more. Her kid was a snoop.

A snoop who was happy to entertain them as they road through the trees; chattering about a variety of subjects from the deer they saw to what he'd been doing in school. He and David carried on a lively conversation about superheroes that Emma could only partially follow because she hadn't quite caught up on her _Avengers_ since returning from the Enchanted Forest. Mary Margaret seemed content to listen to them so Emma didn't bother trying to make small talk with her mother.

They rode for over an hour before coming to a creek, and then followed it up until the ground began to slope. The trickling sound of the little waterfall reached them first, then the trees thinned and the thing itself appeared, surrounded by mossy boulders that David declared the perfect place to have lunch.

Henry and Emma took the horses to get a drink while David and Mary Margaret spread out their picnic: sandwiches, bags of chips –baked, because Mary Margaret liked junk food that she could pretend was healthy- and bottles of Gatorade.

"David said you released Greg Mendel?" Mary Margaret said to Emma when there was a lull in the conversation.

Emma nodded while she chewed a mouthful of turkey sandwich and tried to wash it down with a mouthful of purple Gatorade. She grimaced at the flavor combination but it was better than nothing.

"Yeah," she said when her mouth was empty enough. "I'm hoping he'll decide to cut his losses and leave but I'm not holding my breath. He's been camping out near the beach since Granny kicked him out of the B&B."

"You can't tell him that's illegal and run him out of town?"

Could she? Regina probably would have if Emma had tried it when she'd first come to town. Or she would have written up a clause in the town ordinances that forbade it so she'd have some legal standing and then done it. But the more Regina had resisted her sticking around the more determined Emma had been to stay and she had a feeling pushing Mendel would get her the same result.

"Nah, camping is legal, even if it's not really the season for it yet. And the more I push him out the more convinced he is that there's a story here that we're hiding and that's the exact opposite of what I wanna do."

"He really is a reporter then?" Mary Margaret asked, and Emma wondered why because she was pretty sure David would have filled her in on this already.

"A writer," Emma corrected though she supposed it didn't really make a difference. "As far as I can tell, he's a sneaky little bastard –sorry Henry- but he's not really a threat."

"But he wants to write a story about the town?"

"Well, his column is a little off kilter, he usually writes about hauntings or bigfoot; _X-Files_ type stuff." Emma had read a few of them. He wasn't bad, but it was hard to believe that people took it very seriously. "Stephen King made Maine a pretty popular place for that kinda thing and some towns like it because it brings tourists."

"Well then the faster he gets out of here without a story the better."

"Right," Emma agreed. "So far everyone's been pretty good. I don't how he found out about Granny's trashed freezer but he doesn't seem to have any other leads and nobody's been doing magic or turning into dragons or anything. His magazine's monthly and we're almost to the end of this one. I figure if we can keep it up a few more days then he'll have to leave to make a deadline."

"It shouldn't be too hard," Mary Margaret said. "There really aren't that many people who can do magic and the full moon is over."

"Exactly."

"Like you said though," David spoke up. "When have we ever gotten that lucky?"

"We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come to it I guess," Emma said.

"Well, we have a back-up plan in any case," David sighed.

_The Blue Fairy's Handy-Dandy-Memory-Wipe-3000_. Emma was familiar with it.

"You guys," Henry spoke up frankly. "Even if he does write an article it's not like very many people would believe him. Emma was here for a year and she still didn't believe until I ate the turnover."

"Yeah, but people weren't turning into werewolves back then," Emma said.

Henry rolled his eyes at her.

"I'm pretty sure you wouldn't have believed anyway. People are used to ghost stories and stuff in this world. But a town full of people from fairy tales is a stretch even then. He'll leave," he said confidently.

"I hope you're right kid."

"I am."

"Can't fault that logic," Emma grinned at him.

They finished up their lunch and repacked the saddle bags. By the time they got back on their horses Henry was buzzing about what David and Mary Margaret had to show him again. They came off the trail west of Elena's property, riding through the wide open grass fields in the back and circled the ranch to the highway and followed it north toward town. No surprise in sight.

"Come on guys, what's the surprise?" Emma asked as they dismounted at an apparently random spot David had picked on the road between town and the ranch.

"Just wait and see," he said, leading his horse toward the vacant field.

Emma opened her mouth to crack wise and choked on her words as David and his horse disappeared entirely from view.

"What just happened?" She demanded when she could use her voice.

Mary Margaret just winked in response and followed David into the nothing.

Henry grinned at Emma and started walking so she had no choice but to go with him. The air around them blurred as they stepped toward the field and when the world came back into focus the empty field was full of life. Two pickup trucks were parked at the edge and a dozen rows of plants were growing up lines of wooden fences.

Bean poles, Emma realized, the fences were bean poles and the dwarves were milling about them with rakes and hoes and implements of destruction.

"Didn't know you were stopping by," Leroy drawled as he walked up with Felix. "Happy 'n me will hold your horses if you wanna take a look around Your Maj."

"Thanks Leroy," Mary Margaret handed him her reins. David did the same and put his hand on his wife's back as they led the way toward the bean field.

"Hey Sherrif," Felix –Emma couldn't bring herself to call any of the dwarves by their fairy tale names- said with a grin as he took her and Henry's horses.

Emma forced a smile back at him.

"Emma!" A familiar voice called her name and she turned her head to see-

"Anton?" She blurted incredulously.

The not-so-giant-as-she-remembered giant scooped her up into a bear hug before she could even process who he was. She mimicked the gesture even though she could barely squeeze his shoulders between her surprise and the vice grip he had on her waist.

Thankfully it was over as quickly as it had come and Emma was back down on the ground with enough space to think clearly.

"You're here," she stated the obvious before her filter could catch up with her brain. "And you're…short."

"Shorter anyway," he replied jovially, gesturing to the still not inconsiderable height difference between them. "It's not so bad. It's a lot easier to find cool clothes."

He gestured to his black shirt bearing a 1Up Mushroom that he'd paired with jeans and one of the thick water resistant jackets that the fisherman wore out at the docks.

"Why? How?"

"Hook brought him," David jumped in to explain. "He gave him some kind of mushroom that made him shrink and brought him here as his exit strategy."

"Exit strategy?" Emma looked between Anton and the bean fields as he waved an arm to present the bright green plants that were twisted along combination wire. "You mean those are-

"Magic beans," he finished. "Yeah! I had some starts to save and now everyone can go home!"

Henry looked around the garden in awe.

"We can actually go to Fairy Tale Land?" He asked, sounding like they'd just said they were going to take him to meet the real Santa Claus.

"To the Enchanted Forest yes," David announced, glee written all over his face.

"With these beans you can go anywhere," Anton added proudly.

Emma gaped as she looked at the same plants as her son but in a completely different light. Her gaze shifted between sprouts creeping up the lines of posts and her parents who were obviously anxious, waiting for her reaction. It was clear that they expected her to be thrilled but horrified was a much better description of how she felt.

"How long have you had these?" She demanded. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Since just after you left for New York," Mary Margaret explained. "The Blue Fairy cloaked the field and it protected them from the weather. We were hoping things would settle down a bit before we told you."

Hadn't she just spent months trying to get home from there? And hadn't Mary Margaret been with her in the ruined kingdom, battling a horde of creatures that were so not as cool as Henry thought they were? And hadn't David told her, not that long ago, that Mary Margaret –Snow- had said that they intended to stay in Storybrooke?

"What happened to not wanting to go back? I mean, two weeks ago David was saying you wanted to stay here and settle down with indoor plumbing. I clearly remember having that conversation."

Emma could see Mary Margaret squirming and didn't miss the back-me-up look she shot David.

"It's not that I don't want those things," she hedged and Emma's bullshit meter revved to life.

"With all that's been happening –there's so much we can't control here. People left because of the weather! What happens if Gold gets back his memories of Rumplestiltskin?" David picked up for Mary Margaret and Emma decided she liked her parents more before they had meshed into a singular unit and started double teaming her.

"So? People move in this world all the time," Emma began attacking his argument. "That's completely normal, and it's not out of the realm of reason to ask you to get used to it."

"People don't give up memories of a whole life when they move in this world Emma," Mary Margaret said. "And it's really not so much people deciding to _leave_ Storybrooke that's the problem. It's people coming in that we're concerned about."

"Right," David agreed, "Greg Mendel has already brought one person into town and even if you don't think most people will believe him if he write's an article about us there are bound to be people who _will_. How long can we pretend that we're a quaint little town full of normal people when none of us can leave? Not to mention what having magic around could do. Even if Rumplestiltskin doesn't regain his memories it's only a matter of time before someone starts causing trouble with it."

"Greg Mendel hasn't actually brought anyone to town," Emma pointed out. Mary Margaret and David's confused expressions reminded her yet again of their skewed memories; debating them was useless so she tried a different tactic. "What were you planning to do exactly? Stage a mass exodus and leave everyone who doesn't fit in your fairytale world to wake up to a ghost town? What about Tom Clarke and Belle French? Their cursed selves have no idea what they can't remember. Are you going to leave them here or are you going to haul them to a forest full of monsters and destroyed homes that they can't remember?"

"The Blue Fairy can bring their memories back, she just needs more time."

"The Blue Fairy really needs to stop fucking around with people's memories!"

"Emma!" Her parents chorused in disapproval.

"She's trying her best to help."

"And memory tampering aside," Emma continued, ignoring them both. "Fear of what may or may not happen here is a really shitty reason to tell everyone you're taking them home when what you're really taking them to is a place beyond all recognition. You saw the villages Mary Margaret, there is nothing left! Your 'palace' is in shambles. There's not a home to go to."

"But we could rebuild," David said. "Think of all the improvements we could make with people who have the knowledge of engineers, mechanics and electricians."

"That is not going to be worth a damn thing until you figure out how to get electricity in the first place!"

"Stop!"

Everyone turned to Henry who was practically covering his ears to ward off the argument.

"You didn't answer Emma's question," he told Mary Margaret and David. His previous excitement had disappeared entirely and Emma realized what he was now focused on just before he finished his thought. "What about the people you don't think belong in the Enchanted Forest? What about my –Elena?"

Mary Margaret's face contorted in sympathy.

"She'll be okay Henry; this is her world, without us she'll move on. And maybe not everyone will want to come; we're not forcing anyone to. Besides it will be a while before the beans are even ready, Anton says it will be a month or more," she said, looking to the former giant who had been standing uncomfortably in silence as they argued.

Emma saw him nod but knew that meant nothing to Henry. Her parents couldn't remember Regina and they had no intention of bringing Elena, who they thought belonged in this world, to theirs.

"No!" Henry yelled at his grandparents. "You can't leave her, I won't let you!"

"Henry!" Mary Margaret cried after him but the boy was already in motion.

He ran back down the row of beans to where they'd left Felix and Leroy with their horses. Neither dwarf stopped him as he grabbed Apollo's reins and threw them around his neck. By the time Emma had caught up he had climbed on and had spurred the horse into a gallop away from the bean fields and towards Stablebrooke.

Emma didn't hesitate to repeat his actions with her own horse, snatching the reins from a bewildered Felix and swinging up into her saddle in one smooth motion. David and Mary Margaret stumbled to a halt at the edge of the field and she did nothing to hide her scowl as she wheeled Sue around to chase her son.

The glamour protecting the field blurred her vision as she passed through it and then she spotted Henry, already a hundred yards ahead of her and clinging to his saddle horn and reins as his horse ran full tilt towards the barn that was nearly a mile down the road. Emma charged after, hoping she hadn't finally accidently done something that he wouldn't forgive her for.

"Hey kid! Henry! Slow down!"


	10. Forbidden Fruit

**Note: **_Thank you all so much for the response to the last chapter! Especially to guest reviewers who I can't respond to individually. Sorry for the wait on this, hope it was worth it. Without further ado..._

* * *

**Taste of Forbidden Fruit**

"Henry!"

Henry didn't respond but Emma could see him moving like he might slow his horse; like he might be willing to let her catch up.

"Slow down and talk to me," she yelled again.

"Whoa!" She heard him say and this time he definitely tugged on his reins but Apollo only tossed his head and continued on. He yelped when the abrupt movement made his balance falter and he bounced violently in the saddle as he tried to regain it while the horse just kept going.

"Emma!" He called nervously over his shoulder, hauling back on his reins though Apollo paid him no heed. "I can't slow down!"

Emma kicked Sue's sides but her horse was already racing after him as fast as he could and the gap between them wasn't closing; if anything it was getting bigger.

"'Ma! Emma! Help!"

Her heart plummeted. Henry curled over Apollo's neck and sent a panicked glance over his shoulder, struggling to slow the horse and hang onto his saddle at the same time. She gasped as he looked at the road below him like he wasn't sure whether or not to stay on his runaway horse or take his chances jumping off into the grassy embankment on the side of the road.

"You stay on that horse Henry! Just hang on!"

She started breathing again when she saw him nod and cling tighter to the horse's neck but it was fleeting; they were still going way too fast and she wasn't sure where Apollo was going to decide to stop. What if the horse bucked or tripped with Henry on his back? Horrific possibilities flashed through her mind. The thudding in her chest matched the beat of Sue's hooves on the asphalt. She was straining to keep her seat, not sure if she even had control of Sue or if she was just pretending. It didn't matter, either way she wasn't any closer to catching up to Henry.

She watched the distance between Henry and the turn to Stablebrooke disappear and she worried what she'd do if Apollo shot passed it and what Henry would do if he didn't. If the horse took the corner into the drive at the speed he was going the kid would probably fly off like someone who hadn't been properly buckled into a Tilt-a-Whirl.

"Emma!" He screeched.

"Hang on Henry!"

The radio on her belt bounced uselessly against her hip; she thought about trying to reach Elena on it but she wasn't sure she could unclip it and hang on to her own horse at the same time. What would Elena to do short of a miracle anyway?

For the first time she wished she knew how to access her own magic like she had when Cora had attempted to take her heart. She'd give anything now to just be able to teleport Henry safely to the ground.

"Whoa!" Henry cried as his horse slowed just a hair and careened around the corner onto Stablebrooke's drive. One of his reins streamed through the air when he dropped it in favor of hanging onto his saddle and the horse's mane. Once on the dirt road toward the barn Apollo put on another burst of speed, leaving Emma and Sue to eat his dust.

"Shit!" Emma threw her body to the right as Sue took the corner; the horse leaned so far to the left that Emma thought he would wipe out entirely but he recovered and she managed to stay on as he picked up into a gallop once more.

Henry and Apollo were a hundred yards ahead of her now, nearly to the parking lot and she could hear him pleading with the animal to stop.

"Mom! Help!" Henry screamed as he tried to catch the rein trailing near horse's flanks.

Apollo paid him no heed as they crossed the parking lot and passed the bug toward the open barn door.

Helpless, Emma just prayed that Henry would stay on through one more turn and a stop inside the barn.

A flash of blue and white caught Emma's eye and she sagged in relief as Elena appeared in the doorway and ran out to intercept the horse; stretching her arms wide and calling out to the animal in a loud but soothing voice. Finally, Apollo slowed; he slid to a stop three feet in front of the trainer and scuttled backwards to counter the sudden halt. Elena ignored him, crossing to his side where Henry practically fell into her arms and clutched her tightly like she'd disappear if he didn't hold on.

"What happened?" She demanded, even as she tightened her hold on the eleven-year-old to soften her words. "Henry, are you alright?"

Henry bobbed his head against the crook of her shoulder but didn't loosen his hold. Elena looked up from Henry to Emma as she galloped towards them, confusion written on the lines of her face.

Emma tugged back on Sue's reins as they approached and was grateful when he immediately began to slow down and she hopped out of his saddle as he stopped, completely intent on reaching her son.

"Shit!" Emma swore again when legs betrayed her on the uneven ground and she flung an arm around Sue's neck to keep from falling flat on her face.

Some hero.

Her entire body was shaking with adrenalin and she felt as though she'd sprinted the mile and change from the bean patch to the barn. Sue gave an irritated nicker but let her lean on him until while she tried to regain her balance.

Henry giggled as he watched her from Elena's arms and Emma forgot to be embarrassed at her clumsy attempt at a rescue. He was laughing at her and he was okay. He was laughing at her and he wasn't scarred for life. He was laughing at her and magic beans didn't matter.

"Gotta learn to stick the landing, huh?" She asked with a self-deprecating grin, feeling numb to everything but total relief now that Henry was safe on the ground rather than lying in a broken heap on the side of the road or blazing down Main Street on a rampant steed.

When she was sure that her legs weren't going to give out, Emma gave Sue a haphazard pat and let him join Apollo near the barn so she could walk the last few steps to Henry. He didn't seem keen to let go of Elena entirely but he did stretch an arm out to include Emma in the hug.

She took a deep breath before wrapping her left arm around him and hesitantly rested her right around Elena's shoulders; acutely aware that the last time she had tried this Regina had literally shoved her away and told her to start crowd clearing. She felt the muscles under her hand tense and fully expected the brunette to pull back but to her surprise Elena just shifted to get her own arm more comfortably under Emma's and lightly pull her closer so Henry could snuggle between them.

Henry relaxed against them, safe and loved, and a wave of peace broke over Emma, washing away the frustration from her parents' revelation and the anxiety brought on by a runaway horse. She tangled her fingers in Henry's sweat damp hair and kissed the top of his head; her cheek brushed against Elena's forehead as she did so, but the brunette didn't seem to mind; Emma could feel her thumb tracing against her shoulder blade the same way it had against her wrist a few hours ago.

This was how it should have been at the mines and in the hospital; at the well and on the bench when they had thought Archie murdered. This was what Emma had missed out on and longed for her whole life before coming to Storybrooke. This was what being a family felt like.

This was a lie.

It wouldn't happen, Emma reminded herself, if Regina was here mentally as well as physically. Elena was an illusion of magic, a beautiful story that had been woven into their lives and the truth made a mockery of this very moment. The truth made Emma's chest ache because now that she'd had a single taste of this feeling how was she going to live without it?

Emma did the only thing she knew how to do in this situation: she started running.

Figuratively.

"You have got to stop scaring me like that kid," she said and self-consciously extracted herself from the group hug.

"I'm sorry," Henry mumbled, finally raising his head to look at her thought he left an arm tucked around his other mother; obviously reluctant, given the circumstances, to let her go.

"What happened?" Elena asked again.

"I think I scared him," Henry said sheepishly. "We were going so fast and I panicked. I broke rule number two."

"But you stayed on," Elena replied gently. "Rule number one is the most important."

Henry gave her a tentative smile.

"You two weren't playing tag again were you?"

"No." Henry stared at his shoes and admitted, "I was running away."

"Running away? From what?" Elena split a concerned look between him and Emma.

Emma fumbled for a response that didn't involve magic beans and other worlds and came up blank.

"They said something about my mom, and I got upset," Henry explained. "I should have controlled my temper better. I'm sorry for scaring everyone."

"It's okay kid," Emma said. Her heart cracked because he was looking at Elena when he said it and she knew he was searching for any hint of his mother to find and hold on to for moments when it seemed like he was never going to get her back, not really.

"We're just glad you're all right," the brunette added, giving his shoulder another squeeze before dropping her arm and Henry gave her a grateful but sad little smile in return.

The sound of hooves on gravel growing closer made them look up to see David and Mary Margaret coming down the road and Henry's eye's found Emma's and she saw her wish to not deal with this right now reflected in them. She knew he was sorry for the way he'd reacted but that didn't mean he felt ready to confront his well-meaning but oblivious grandparents about it.

"How about I take your horses to the arena for a cool down," Elena suggested. "You can come back and join me whenever you're ready."

"Why don't you go with her Henry," Emma said, because being a parent meant taking one for the team sometimes. "I'll talk to Mary Margaret and David."

Henry nodded gratefully and he and Elena collected both horses before disappearing into the barn. She turned back to the road just as her parents rounded the last paddock and steeled herself for the oncoming conversation.

They hadn't meant to hurt Henry. Not that that assuaged the inner mama bear she barely knew existed. Her best plan of action was to assure them that everything was fine and then get rid of them as quickly as possible.

"Is Henry okay?" Mary Margaret implored as she slid from her saddle and reached out to grasp Emma's hand.

"He's fine," Emma said, squeezing her mother's fingers briefly before dropping them.

"I don't understand what happened? I know you don't really want to go back to the Enchanted Forest but I thought maybe you'd give us a chance? And I thought Henry would be excited?"

"He is –was," Emma corrected herself. "But this is the only home he's ever known; you can't just expect him to want to leave it behind entirely."

"We don't," David protested. "With the crop we can have a continuous supply of beans we can use to travel back and forth anytime we need to."

"That's just great. But it doesn't mean the Enchanted Forest is a place for children right now and it probably won't be for a long time," Emma argued. "I get that it's your home and you want it back but the reality is that it's not safe and there are a lot of people who shouldn't go back there until it is. Including Henry. _Especially_ Henry."

"We don't know that it's any safer here, at least there we know what we're dealing with."

"Yeah! Ogres and chimaera and dragons! I don't know about you but I prefer tourists."

"That's not what it's really about though is it?" Mary Margaret interjected. "Henry was excited until he found out we were going to leave Elena behind? What's really going on here Emma?"

There were times when Emma truly wished that her parents were actually the idiots that Regina thought they were. Because whenever they decided to use their heads it usually wound up being a pain in her ass.

"She's…it's complicated."

"Complicated how?" Mary Margaret demanded suspiciously. "What aren't you telling us?"

"Okay, you are really not the one who gets to be angry and defensive about this," Emma snapped, putting her hands on her hips and squaring herself against the two of them.

"Emma-

"Don't _Emma_ me. I leave town for five minutes and you had the Blue Fairy use her hocus pocus on her and now you can't remember who she is. That is _not_ my fault but now it's my problem, so you can put your perfect Charmings act away right the hell now."

"What, you mean we _cursed _her?" David asked incredulously.

"The Blue Fairy can't cast curses," Mary Margaret insisted. "And why would we do that?"

"Believe me, I would love to know. But this is really not the time or the place for this interrogation so I'd appreciate it if you'd just back off."

A pout blossomed over Mary Margaret's face and David just looked flummoxed.

"Look," Emma sighed because she found herself utterly incapable of pushing them away completely. "I'm sure you had reasons for doing what you did, and you probably even thought they were good ones, but Elena is not who you think she is and until I've sorted that out I can't even think about magic beans or fairy-_freaking_-tale land but I know for sure we are not leaving her alone in Storybrooke regardless of whatever else we do."

Mary Margaret gaped at her.

"Well, who is she?" She asked timidly, sounding more like her meek, cursed, self than the passionate warrior princess who Emma had gotten to know a world away; and though Emma loved both –she did- it was still hard to reconcile the two as her mother.

She pursed her lips and tried not to scowl at her.

"Henry's mother," she revealed flatly.

"_What?_"

She tried hard not to roll her eyes, she really did.

"Like I said, it's complicated. But we're not dealing with that right now. I need to get back to Henry. You guys should probably just…head home."

"But what about-

"We should apologize-" They protested at once and Emma held her hands up.

"No," she said firmly. "Guys, I really need to not do this right now. Henry's upset and I need to go to him. Please just give me today."

Mary Margaret still looked torn.

"We can do brunch or something tomorrow," Emma promised. "Henry will calm down and I can explain then."

"He knows what we did and we don't even know?"

Her mother looked heartbroken but whether it was because she felt left out or if she felt guilty for a sin she couldn't remember committing, Emma didn't know.

David still looked like he hadn't quite put all the pieces together yet; which was fair as he was still missing several of them.

"The Blue Fairy's blessing didn't affect us because we weren't in Storybrooke when she cast it. We're the only ones who remember who Elena was."

"But she's from Storybrooke? She's from our land?"

Emma nodded and knew the next question would be about who Elena was so she headed it off.

"Tomorrow," she promised. "I will explain everything tomorrow. I promise. I gotta go take care of my kid."

"Emma, for what it's worth," Mary Margaret said earnestly, "I'm sorry."

Emma gave her a wan smile.

She wanted to believe that. She'd been telling herself for weeks that they'd had the best intentions when they'd "blessed" Regina. But, the voice in the back of her mind told her that wasn't the whole story. That's why she'd been avoiding them and this conversation. They had been wrong about Regina before and punished her anyway and Emma's gut told her that they had made a mistake again.

At least she'd bought herself another day before she really had to confront that.

"Here, I'll take your horses in so you can get going," she offered, holding her hand out for them to hand her their reins, which they did reluctantly.

"I'm sorry this turned out so terribly, I guess we didn't think this through very well," Mary Margaret apologized again and her woeful tone made Emma itch to get back to Henry and Elena.

"Hey, it was fun until the last thirty minutes. Henry will be less upset tomorrow, he's just worried about his mom. We'll figure out the rest later."

She could tell that her mother was about to burst from the questions she wanted to ask and that David was still reeling from the ones she had answered. It was obviously going to take a little more to get them moving.

"Thanks for understanding guys," she said and stepped forward to give them each a one armed hug. David returned it awkwardly and, as always, Mary Margaret acted like she didn't want to let her go. It struck Emma how different hugging them felt from the group hug with Henry and Elena. She pulled away and waved absently as she headed toward the barn. They waved back automatically but otherwise stood still, staring after her in something close to shock.

Emma let out a huff frustration once she was safely inside the barn and pushed back at curls that weren't there out of habit. She wondered if the horses she was leading needed a cool down too or if that had just been Elena's excuse to give them some privacy. She decided it that it was probably not a good idea to put the horses away sweaty even if it was fairly warm in the stables so she stopped them near the tack area and pulled off their saddles before leading them out the back of the barn.

Rather than in the arena, she found Elena leading Sue around the yard while Henry was riding Apollo next to her. They were deep in conversation and neither noticed Emma's arrival as she watched them from the doorway.

"You won't tell the kids in class what happened or use me as an example of what not to do will you?" She heard Henry asking nervously.

"No, I promise," Elena assured him, patting his leg gently. "Your mistakes are your own to share or not as you like."

Emma caught the glum look on the kid's face but his shoulders released their tension at her promise.

"Is this a private party or do you let just anyone walk with you?" She interrupted lightly, letting them know she was there as she cut across the gravel to join them.

Elena smiled at her, "Oh private definitely, but I believe you were invited. Would you like your horse back?"

"Nah," Emma motioned with Monroe and Lightyear's ropes. "I'll walk with these guys."

"Come on then, they don't need much of a cool down. Henry just needs a chance to feel comfortable with Apollo again. I believe it's important to get right back on the horse after scary experiences and face any fear head on."

"How ya doin' kid?"

"Fine. I think Apollo freaked out more than me," he answered, giving the horse's withers a forgiving pat.

"I think he got excited because you were running home, sometimes that happens, that's why I like to have you mount and dismount in the arena rather than the barn."

"Well I definitely won't be doing that again," Henry said resolutely.

"Glad to hear it."

To Emma's immense relief Elena still didn't pry at the reasons behind Henry's sudden flight back to the barn. She seemed content with his brief explanation and peppered them both with light hearted questions about the rest of their ride and picnic and Emma let Henry answer most of them as they wandered around the yard until the horses were dry and docile. Then they went back to the barn and all worked together to put the animals and equipment away.

Emma noticed Henry was reluctant to leave and didn't really blame him. She was aware that he'd been missing Regina particularly this week, even before today's misunderstanding. He clearly enjoyed spending time with Elena, and was currently charming her into letting him help feed and water their horses. It seemed Henry's initial reluctance to get to know Elena had been for good reason because now breaking the spell would mean choosing Regina over Elena. They had to; of course they would, because this wasn't real.

But as she watched Elena help him lift a pitch fork full of hay into the rack inside Apollo's stall she wanted it to be. She wanted both, she realized. Regina and Elena, reconciled into one, like Snow and Mary Margaret. If cursed people were the worst versions of themselves, and blessed were the best, then Emma wanted normal, normal people with strengths and weaknesses.

For Henry, because Regina had been a good mother and he deserved to have an easy relationship with her. But also for Regina herself, because Regina had been The Queen and The Mayor, but she had been just Regina too, and she deserved to remember that she had overcome the former versions, that she had been the best of herself without magic once.

Henry held out grain filled hands and chestnut mare leaned out of her stall to lip it from his fingers, nickering for more when it was gone. Henry's giggle filled the barn and Elena, hovering protectively behind him, smiled wistfully. She turned her head, catching Emma staring and her smile brightened as she met the blonde's eyes and Emma was finally completely, uncomfortably honest with herself. She wanted it too.

They needed to break this spell. Because Emma _needed_ to know if this was a fluke, if this was a trick of magic to make her believe the lie. She couldn't feel this way about Elena. She wanted normal. She wanted _real._ She wanted Regina.

_Shit!_

She couldn't deal with this right now. Not here. Not while Elena was smiling at her like that.

"Hey kid, we need to get going!"

"Emmaaa," Henry groaned as he turned away from his work.

"Sorry dude," she said resolutely, "We've been here all day and you have homework."

He schlumped and sighed and quickly fed the last of the oats in his hands to the horse before turning to Elena and throwing his arms around her, this time she didn't even look surprised.

"This was the best day," he whispered, squeezing her tight. "Thank you."

"I'm glad you thought so, even with your adventure."

"I lived," he said with false-bravado. "It'll make a great story."

"So it will," Elena agreed as she let him go.

Emma smiled as he trudged over to her while the other woman followed him with a much less beleaguered walk and a smile on her face that made Emma want to give in and stay but reminded her why she needed to leave _right now_ at the same time.

"Thank you," she echoed her son's words, "For teaching us, and for saving him."

"He would have been fine without me," Elena said, bestowing a warm smile on Henry who beamed back at her before she met Emma's gaze and held it. "And it was my pleasure to teach you, I had a lot of fun this morning."

"Me too," Emma found herself saying, unable to break the gaze though alarms were going off in her head, warning her of dangerous waters. She stood awkwardly with Henry, hands in her pockets, trying to remember why going in for a hug of her own would be a very, very bad idea.

"Right," she said and forced herself to tear her eyes away from the liquid brown depths of Elena's –_Regina's_- and put a hand on Henry's shoulder to steer him toward the door.

"See you Monday?" Elena inquired as she walked them out.

"Monday? Oh, for the lesson, right. See you Monday."

"See ya!" Henry called out too as he dropped into the passenger seat of the bug.

Emma couldn't resist one more shared grin and new from the conspiratory look in Elena's eyes that at least she wasn't alone in this heady feeling that was so impossible to resist.

_It's not real_; her new mantra. The smile dissolved from her face as she sank into her seat and she focused on the motions of starting the car and pulling out of the parking lot so she wouldn't have to think about her own inner turmoil.

"Are you okay?" She asked Henry as they headed toward town.

"Sure. I was scared, but getting back on Apollo and having nothing go wrong helped," he answered easily.

"What about okay about the beans?"

The happy-go-lucky expression on his face dwindled, replaced by a look too tired for an eleven-year-old to wear.

"We're not gonna leave her are we?" He asked. "I mean, even if we break the blessing and she remembers who she is. We're not gonna go there and leave her here because she was the Evil Queen?"

Emma kicked herself because that hadn't even crossed her mind and it should have. That was exactly the kind of fairytale vengeance the people in town had displayed a thirst for, even her parents and their friends.

"No," she promised. "We're not leaving her; we're not going there at all."

"What? Why not?"

"Not until it's safe," Emma amended, deciding she'd be better off not saying 'never'.

"But Grandma and Grandpa want to go."

Emma had mixed feelings about that, none of which she intended to vent to her son.

"I know. But I think here feels like home to them too. So maybe they'll decide it's not worth it."

"You know," Henry began, "When we first started Operation Cobra I thought we'd be there, riding horses and having swordfights by now."

Emma gave him a sideways glance but didn't reply.

"I guess really though, riding horses and learning to sword fight _and_ still having Xbox and comics is kind of awesome.

"I'm glad you feel that way kid," she told him. "Because I'm all for having the best of both worlds in this one."

"Speaking of operations," she said casually as they parked and walked into their building. "How do you think Operation Elephant is coming?"

Henry grinned.

"Great! I think we skipped a couple steps today," he said, skipping a few on the walk up to the apartment for good measure. "I guess that's the upside to almost becoming road-pancake?"

"Yeah, do me a favor and don't try that again. Even to skip a couple steps," Emma scolded him as she jammed her key into the lock.

"I won't," Henry promised. "But even you gotta admit today was nice right?"

They walked in and shed their layers, hanging up coats and kicking off shoes.

"It was," Emma admitted.

"Do you like riding?"

"Yeah, when you're not scaring me out of my wits, it's a lot of fun."

"And do you like Elena?"

Emma twisted sharply to look at him. His expression was innocent but his eyes were regarding her too shrewdly for her to believe it had been a simple slip.

"You do, I can tell," he said when she didn't answer right away. "It's okay."

"It doesn't mean I don't want you to break the blessing," she assured him.

"Do you think you could be friends with my mom, like you are with Elena?"

A sympathetic smile graced Emma's lips.

"I hope so Henry, I really do."

He smiled back at her and threw himself into a hug.

"I hope I can break it soon," he wished.

"Me too, kid," she said and poured every ounce of hope that she had for him into the hug.

"Whew! You smell like horse sweat," she told him when she felt him start to pull away.

"You do too!"

"Shower time then dinner?" She suggested, raising her eyebrows at him in question.

"Definitely. Can we go to Granny's?"

"We're going there in the morning, I think Snow and David are gonna crash brunch."

"Okay," he said happily and Emma was glad that his unease with them had apparently worn off.

"How about pizza?"

Emma rolled her eyes but pizza did sound pretty good.

"I'll call Tony's."

"Yes!" Henry crowed, he pumped his fist and raced up the stairs towards his room and a hot shower.

Emma just shook her head and grinned as she pulled out her cell phone to carry out their plan.


End file.
